1TY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

LIBRARY 

COLLEGE  OF  AGKICUL1 
DAVIS 


MAN— AN   ADAPTIVE 
MECHANISM 


BY 
GEORGE   W.   CRILE,   F.A.C.S. 

PROFESSOR   OP  SURGERY,  SCHOOL   OF  MEDICINE,  WESTERN 

RESERVE    UNIVERSITY  ;     VISITING    SURGEON   TO 

THE  LAKESIDE  HOSPITAL,    CLEVELAND 


EDITED    BY 

ANNETTE  AUSTIN,  A.B. 


gorfc 

THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1916 

All  rights  reserved 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

LIBRARY 

COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE 
DAVIS 


COPYEIGHT,   1916, 

BT  THE  MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  March,  1916. 


Xortoooti 

J.  8.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  A  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


A    COLLABORATOR 

GRACE   McBRIDE   CRILE 


PREFACE 

FOR  more  than  twenty  years,  the  general  theme 
treated  in  this  volume  has  been  under  investigation 
in  my  laboratory  and  my  clinic,  and  the  volumes 
published  during  that  time  have  recorded  the  steps 
by  which  I  have  approached  the  theories  here  pre- 
sented. 

The  accumulated  experimental  and  clinical  data 
are  so  extensive  that  summaries  only  are  given  in 
the  present  volume,  which  is  an  argument  for  the 
main  thesis,  that  man  is  essentially  an  energy-trans- 
forming mechanism,  obeying  the  laws  of  physics,  as 
do  other  mechanisms.  In  presenting  this  thesis,  cer- 
tain hypotheses  have  been  freely  employed  where  the 
data  were  insufficient  that  they  may  furnish  a  work- 
ing basis  upon  which  to  accumulate  additional  data. 
An  hypothesis  —  incomplete  or  even  false  —  is  so 
easily  demolished  that  it  can  do  little  harm ;  while 
the  presentation  of  a  "  false  fact "  may  produce  per- 
nicious results. 

To  no  one  are  the  imperfections  and  shortcomings 
of  this  presentation  more  apparent  than  to  the  author, 
who  lays  no  claim  to  expert  knowledge  in  any  one  of 
the  several  sciences  involved  in  attempting  a  synthesis 
of  such  wide  scope. 

A  review  of  the  literature  and  the  details  of  most 
of  the  researches  whose  conclusions  are  used  in  this 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

volume  are  not  included  here,  but  will  be  published 
elsewhere.  Our  difficulties  and  the  shortcomings  in 
our  argument  will  be  obvious  enough  even  when 
relieved  from  references  to  a  massive  literature. 

The  work  of  the  laboratory,  which  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  research  has  included  some  2500 
experiments,  has  as  far  as  possible  been  checked  and 
illuminated  at  every  step  by  the  clinical  observations 
made  by  my  associates,  Dr.  Lower  and  Dr.  Sloan, 
and  by  myself. 

The  result  of  this  research,  as  here  presented,  is 
the  combined  outcome  of  a  large  amount  of  work 
and  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  many  associates.  It 
represents  a  generous  contribution,  not  only  of  labor, 
but  of  valuable  suggestion  and  criticism  from  col- 
leagues and  friends,  to  whom  I  wish  here  to  express 
my  gratitude. 

I  am  deeply  sensible  of  my  obligations  to  Sir  Vic- 
tor Horsley  for  the  opportunity  of  beginning  this 
research  in  his  laboratory  in  1895;  and  for  many 
valuable  suggestions  and  criticisms ;  to  Professor 
Sherrington  for  reading  the  original  manuscript  on 
"  Phylogenetic  Association";  and  to  Professors  G.  N. 
Stewart,  W.  T.  Howard,  T.  Sollman,  and  J.  J.  R. 
MacLeod  of  the  Western  Reserve  Medical  School,  all 
of  whom  have  generously  given  me  the  benefit  of 
their  wide  experience  and  scientific  knowledge. 

To  the  following  laboratory  and  clinical  associates 
I  acknowledge  my  gratitude  and  indebtedness  for 
assuming  much  of  the  burden  of  experimental  de- 
tails :  Dr.  Guy  H.  Fitzgerald,  Dr.  A.  Cudell,  Dr.  Homer 
H.  Heath,  Dr.  C.  H.  Lenhart,  Dr.  Worth  Brown,  Dr. 


PREFACE 


IX 


Clyde  E.  Ford,  Dr.  H.  P.  Cole,  Dr.  D.  A.  Prendergast, 
Dr.  A.  B.  Eisenbrey,  Miss  0.  M.  Lewis,  Dr.  A.  M. 
Tweedie,  Dr.  Lawrence  Pomeroy. 

To  Dr.  David  H.  Dolley,  Dr.  F.  W.  Hitchings,  and 
Dr.  J.  B.  Austin  I  wish  particularly  to  express  my 
deep  appreciation  of  their  long,  painstaking,  and  en- 
thusiastic service  in  the  laboratory ;  and  for  bearing 
the  bnrden  of  the  major  portion  of  the  experimental 
details.  I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  Dolley  for  making 
for  me  the  histologic  studies  of  the  brain  in  shock 
and  emotion;  to  Dr.  Hitchings  for  prolonged  and 
extensive  work  in  every  branch  of  the  research,  par- 
ticularly for  his  work  on  the  adrenals ;  for  a  critical 
review  of  the  literature ;  for  devising  a  method  of 
making  actual  Purkinje  cell  counts;  and  for  compil- 
ing, analyzing,  and  tabulating  the  large  mass  of  ex- 
perimental data ;  to  Dr.  Austin  for  painstaking  work 
on  the  histologic  changes  in  the  organs  and  tissues 
of  man  and  animals,  and  especially  for  his  extensive 
histologic  study  of  the  brain,  which  has  included  the 
counting  and  classifying  of  over  one  hundred  thou- 
sand brain-cells;  to  Dr.  H.  G.  Sloan  for  assuming 
many  of  the  operative  details;  for  the  physiological 
investigation  of  the  adrenals,  and  for  other  clinical 
and  research  work ;  to  Dr.  Maud  L.  Men  ten  for  her 
researches  upon  the  adrenals,  the  electric  fish,  and 
the  H-ion  concentration  of  the  blood,  in  its  relation 
to  the  factors  causing  exhaustion  and  death. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  Dr.  Austin  and  Mr.  John 
E.  Olivenbaum  for  making  the  photomicrographs ;  to 
Mr.  W.  J.  Brownlow  for  original  drawings  and  pho- 
tographic studies ;  to  Miss  Amy  F.  Rowland  for 


x  PREFACE 

collaboration  in  the  research  upon  the  chemical  con- 
stituents of  various  organs  of  animals  under  condi- 
tions of  activation;  and  to  Dr.  W.  J.  Crozier  for 
reading  the  manuscript  and  for  valuable  suggestions. 

To  my  associate,  Dr.  W.  E.  Lower,  I  am  heavily 
indebted  for  the  invaluable  assistance  he  has  given 
me  throughout  the  entire  research 

To  Miss  Annette  Austin  I  wish  to  express  my 
special  appreciation  of  her  great  assistance  in  com- 
piling the  data  from  my  various  monographs,  manu- 
scripts, and  papers,  as  well  as  from  the  literature ; 
and  of  her  aid  in  their  presentation  in  the  following 

pages. 

GEORGE  W.   CRILE. 


GUSHING  LABORATORY  OF  EXPERIMENTAL  MEDICINE, 

WESTERN  RESERVE  UNIVERSITY, 

January  1,  1916. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION .        .        .1 


PART   I 

GENERAL   CONSIDERATION  OF  BIOLOGIC  ADAPTA- 
TION AND   ASCENT   OF  MAN 

CHAPTER 

I.    ADAPTATION  TO  ENVIRONMENT 17 


PART    II 

THE  MECHANISMS  OF  ADAPTATION:  RECEPTOR 
AND  EFFECTOR 

II.     THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM 43 

III.  ADAPTATION  BY  MEANS  OF  CONTACT  CEPTORS    .        .      67 

IV.  ADAPTATION  BY  MEANS  OF  CHEMICAL  CEPTORS  AND 

CHEMICAL  ACTIVITY    .......  95 

V.    ADAPTATION    BY    MEANS    OF    DISTANCE    CEPTORS  — 

EMOTIONS  —  MENTAL  STATES 118 

VI.    THE  KINETIC  SYSTEM 157 


PART    III 

BIOLOGIC   INTERPRETATION   OF  PHENOMENA 
OF   HEALTH   AND   DISEASE 

VII.     DISEASES  OF  THE  KINETIC  SYSTEM        ....  211 

VIII.     KINETIC  DISEASES  (Continued) 225 

IX.     ANOCIATION 242 

xi 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGR 

X.  CERTAIN  PHASES  OF  THE  RELATION  BETWEEN  THE 
KINETIC  SYSTEM  AND  GROWTH,  PROCREATION  AND 

CHEMICAL  PURITY 261 

XI.  A  MECHANISTIC  INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  ACTION  OF 

CERTAIN  DRUGS 285 

XII.     ACTION  PATTERNS;   CONSCIOUSNESS  AND  SLEEP           .  298 

XIII.  PAIN,  LAUGHTER  AND  WEEPING 318 

XIV.  TRANSFORMATION  OF  ENERGY  AND  ACIDOSIS       .        .  340 
XV.     ELECTRO-CHEMICAL  PHENOMENA 356 

XVI.    THE  INDIVIDUAL  AS  AN  ADAPTIVE  MECHANISM  .        .  366 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


1.  Protective  Coloration  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  White-tailed 

Ptarmigan        .........  29 

2.  The  Sussex  Man 34 

3.  Positive  Heliotropism  of  a  Marine  Worm      ....  47 

4.  Comparison  of  the  Embryos  of  Man  and  Other  Vertebrates  50 

5.  Venus'  Fly-trap 53 

6.  Contest  between  Ant-bear  and  Puma 76 

7.  Horror  and  Agony 124 

8.  Athlete  making  a  Record  Broad  Jump 126 

9.  Finish  of  One-half  Mile  Intercollegiate  Race         .         .         .  127 

10.  Athlete  breaking  the  Record  for  Shot  Put     .         .        .         .  128 

11.  Anger  in  Male  Gorilla 129 

12.  Exhausted  Suffragist 130 

13.  Cat  Terrified  by  Dog 131 

14.  Violent  Effort .133 

15.  Exhaustion      ..........  134 

16.  Tigress  and  Cubs  at  Rest 135 

17.  Composure       .  • 137 

18.  Photomicrographs  showing  Effects  of  Acute  and  of  Chronic 

Fright  on  the  Brain-cells  of  a  Rabbit     .        .                ,.  139 

19.  Case  of  Exophthalmic  Goiter 142 

20.  Tracing  showing  Effect  of  Fear  on  Adrenal  Output  of  a 

Cat 146 

21.  Photomicrographs   showing  the   Effect   of   Fright  on   the 

Brain-cells  of  a  Rabbit 149 

22.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Fright  on  the  Ad- 

renals of  a  Rabbit 150 

23.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Fright  on  the  Liver 

of  a  Rabbit 151 

24.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Insomnia  on  the 

Brain-cells  of  a  Rabbit 166 

25.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Insomnia  on  the 

Adrenals  of  a  Rabbit 167 

26.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Insomnia  on  the 

Liver  of  a  Rabbit     .         .         .         .         •         •         '         •  168 

27.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Exertion  on  the 

Brain-cells  of  a  Cat 169 

xiii 


xiv  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIOUKB  PACE 

28.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Exertion  on  the 

Adrenals  of  a  Cat    ........     170 

29.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Exertion  on  the 

Liver  of  a  Cat  .         . 171 

30.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  a  Long  Swim  on 

the  Brain-cells  of  a  Salmon 172 

31.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  a  Long  Swim  on 

the  Adrenals  of  a  Salmon 173 

32.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  a  Long  Swim  on 

the  Liver  of  a  Salmon      .......     174 

33.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Indol  and  Skatol 

on  the  Brain-cells  of  a  Cat 175 

34.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Indol  and  Skatol 

on  the  Adrenals  of  a  Cat          ......     176 

35.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Indol  and  Skatol 

on  the  Liver  of  a  Cat 177 

36.  Photomicrographs    showing   Effect   of   Carcinoma   on    the 

Brain-cells  of  a  Human  Being 178 

37.  Photomicrographs  showing  Effect  of  Paratyphoid  Fever  on 

the  Brain-cells  of  a  Human  Being 179 

38.  Tracing  showing  the  Effect  of  Skatol  on  the  Adrenal  Output 

of  a  Dog 181 

39.  Tracing  showing  the  Effect  of  Diphtheria  Toxin  on  the  Ad- 

renal Output  of  a  Cat 182 

40.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Electric  Discharge 

on  the  Brain-cells  of  an  Electric  Fish     ....     186 

41.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Comparative  Effects  of  Ex- 

cision of  the  Adrenals  and  of  Excessive  Administration 

of  Adrenin  on  the  Brain-cells  of  Dogs    ....     191 

42.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Comparative  Effects  of  Ex- 

.    cision  of  the  Thyroid  and  of  Excessive  Feeding  with 
Thyroid  Extract  on  the  Brain -cells  of  Dogs   .         .         .192 

43.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  lodoform  on  the 

Brain-cells  of  a  Dog 194 

44.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  lodoform  on  the 

Adrenals  of  a  Dog   ........     195 

45.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  lodoform  on  the 

Liver  of  a  Dog 196 

46.  Schematic  Drawing  showing  the  Course  of  the  Blood  Streams 

in  Two  Dogs  with  Eight-vessel  Crossed  Circulation       .     200 

47.  Tracings  showing  the  Effect  of  Adrenin  on  the  Blood-pres- 

sure of  a  Dog  whose  Brain  Alone  Received  Adrenin      .     201 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xv 

FIGURE  PAGE 

48.  Tracings  illustrating  the  Protective  Effect  of  Morphin  in 

Anaphylactic  Shock 202 

49.  Photomicrographs    showing    the    Effect    of    Exophthalmic 

Goiter  on  the  Brain-cells  of  a  Human  Being  .         .     226 

50.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Acute  Septicemia 

on  the  Brain-cells  of  a  Human  Being      ....     227 

51.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Infection  on  the 

Brain-cells  of  a  Cat 228 

52.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Infection  on  the 

Adrenals  of  a  Cat .        .     229 

53.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Infection  on  the 

Liver  of  a  Cat 230 

54.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Surgical  Trauma 

on  the  Brain-cells  of  a  Dog      ......     243 

55.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Surgical  Trauma 

on  the  Adrenals  of  a  Dog 244 

56.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Surgical  Trauma- 

on  the  Liver  of  a  Dog 245 

57.  Chart  showing  the  Effect  of  Emotional  Excitement  on  the 

Temperature    .........     246 

58.  Chart  showing  the  Effect  of  Fear  on  the  Pulse      .         .         .247 

59.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Comparative  Effects  of  the 

Administration  of  Ether  and  of  Nitrous  Oxid  on  the 
Brain -cells  of  Dogs 248 

60.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Comparative  Effects  of  the 

Administration  of  Ether  and  of  Nitrous  Oxid  on  the 
Adrenals  of  Dogs     ........     249 

61.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Comparative  Effects  of  the 

Administration  of  Ether  and  of  Nitrous  Oxid  on  the 
Liver  of  Dogs 250 

62.  Photomicrographs   showing  the   Effect  of   Leucin  on   the 

Brain-cells  of  a  Cat 266 

03.    Photomicrographs    showing   the    Effect   of    Leucin  on   the 

Adrenals  of  a  Cat 267 

64.  Photomicrographs  showing  the   Effect  of   Leucin   on  the 

Liver  of  a  Cat 268 

65.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Peptone  on  the 

Brain-cells  of  a  Dog 269 

66.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Peptone  on  the 

Adrenals  of  a  Dog 270 

67.  Photomicrographs  showing  the   Effect  of  Peptone  on  the 

Liver  of  a  Dog          ........     271 


xvi  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


68.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Pregnancy  on  the 

Brain-cells  of  a  Cat 276 

69.  Tracing  showing  Effect  of  Pregnancy  on  the  Adrenin  Out- 

put of  a  Cat     277 

70.  Photomicrographs   showing    Effect  of    Eclampsia   on    the 

Brain-cells  of  a  Human  Being 281 

71.  Photomicrographs  showing  Comparison  between  the  Effects 

of  an  Acid  arid  of  an  Alkali  on  the  Brain-cells  of  Cats     290 

72.  Photomicrographs  showing  Comparison  between  the  Effects 

of  an  Acid  and  of  an  Alkali  on  the  Adrenals  of  Cats     .     291 

73.  Photomicrographs  showing  Comparison  between  the  Effects 

of  an  Acid  and  of  an  Alkali  on  the  Liver  of  Cats  .         .     292 

74.  Photomicrographs   showing   Protective  Effect  of  Morphin 

and  of  Nitrous  Oxid  on  the  Brain-cells  of  Dogs  which 

had  Received  Diphtheria  Toxin 294 

75.  Photomicrographs  showing  Protective   Effect   of   Morphin 

and  of  Nitrous  Oxid  on  the  Adrenals  of  Dogs  which 

had  Received  Diphtheria  Toxin 295 

76.  Photomicrographs  showing  Protective   Effect  of   Morphin 

and  of  Nitrous  Oxid  on  the  Livers  of  Dogs  which  had 
Received  Diphtheria  Toxin     ......     297 

77.  Cross-section  of  Leaf  and  Hair  of  Venus'  Fly-trap         .         .     299 

78.  Resemblance  between  Certain  Microscopic  Structures  in  the 

Eye  and  Certain  Structures  in  the  Brain        .         .         .     304 

79.  Sleeping  Child 315 

80.  Laughter  of  a  Healthy  Child 329 

81.  Baseball  Fans  at  a  Championship  Game        ....     334 

82.  Crying  Child 336 

83.  Photomicrographs   showing  the   Protective   Effect  on   the 

Brain-cells  of  a  Dog  of  Injections  of  an  Alkali  after 
Double  Adrenalectomy 347 

84.  Photomicrographs  showing  the   Protective  Effect  on  the 

Liver  of  a  Dog  of  Injections  of  an  Alkali  after  Double 
Adrenalectomy 348 

85.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effect  of  Acute  Acidosis  on 

the  Brain-cells  of  a  Human  Being          ....     3."><) 

86.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effects  of  Extreme  Activa- 

tion on  the  Brain-cells  of  a  Soldier          ....     352 

87.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effects  of  Extreme  Activa- 

tion on  the  Adrenals  of  a  Soldier 3">3 

88.  Photomicrographs  showing  the  Effects  of  Extreme  Activa- 

tion on  the  Liver  of  a  Soldier          :>:'l 


MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE 
MECHANISM 


INTRODUCTION 


WITH  the  advance  in  natural  science,  which  was 
inaugurated  by  the  general  acceptance  of  Darwin's 
theory  of  evolution,  a  tendency  has  developed  to 
regard  health  and  disease  alike  as  natural  phenomena 
subject  to  the  same  laws  as  those  which  govern  other 
physical  processes. 

If  man,  like  other  animals,  is  the  product  of  evolu- 
tion, then  his  existing  form  and  the  functions  of  his 
various  organs  and  tissues  must  have  been  determined 
by  that  age-long  struggle.  ^Disease,  the  failure  of 
the  organism  to  adapt  itself  completely,  and  health 
are  alike  expressions  of  natural  processes  —  compre- 
hensive terms  which  designate  the  net  result  of  many 
trials  of  interacting,  imperfect  mechanisms,  evoked 
by  nature's  emergencies,  and  accepted,  suffered  or 
cast  off,  as  they  have  proved  useful,  harmful  or  in- 
effective in  the  combat,  but  all  working  in  common, 
in  sickness  or  in  health,  toward  a  more  complete 
adaptation  to  environment. 

B  1 


£     :,JA\— A\   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

1  ' 

The  conception  that  the  struggle  for  existence  is 
the  sole  determinant  of  the  outer  form  and  inner  proc- 
esses of  man's  body  gives  a  new  meaning  to  the  prob- 
lems of  disease.  Each  organ,  each  function  assumes 
a  new,  often  a  tragic,  value  in  the  light  of  its  role  in  the 
drama  of  adaptation.  The  inadequacy  of  some  of 
nature's  methods  and  the  perfection  of  others  are 
shown  in  these  complex  and  unbalanced  problems  of 
health  and  disease,  the  solution  of  which  may  be 
attained  by  medical  skill  when  properly  equipped 
through  study  of  the  part  played  by  each  mechanism 
in  the  history  of  the  species. 

The  impetus  which  the  theory  of  evolution  has  im- 
parted within  the  last  sixty  years  to  biology,  to  chemis- 
try, to  physics,  to  geology,  to  astronomy,  in  fact,  to 
every  natural  science,  has  never  before  been  equaled. 
In  view  of  this  fact  that  most  sciences  have  availed 
themselves  fully  of  the  opportunity  offered  by  the 
doctrine  of  evolution  to  coordinate  their  data,  it  seems 
odd  that  medicine  should  have  lagged  so  long  to 
find  inspiration  in  its  revelations. 

The  tardiness  of  the  medical  profession  in  making 
use  of  the  theory  of  evolution  has  not  been  because 
that  profession  did  not  need  a  coordinating  working 
basis.  The  delay  may  perhaps  be  traceable  to  the 
fact  that,  unlike  other  scientific  studies,  medicine  has 
been  closely  associated  in  every  age  with  the  every- 
day life  of  the  people,  its  prime  object  being  to  relieve 
suffering.  The  public  has  always  demanded  definite, 
finished  results,  and,  as  scientists  know,  definite  and 
final  conclusions  are  usually  incompatible  with  true 
science.  It  has  never  been  possible  for  medicine  to 


INTRODUCTION  3 

be  truly  scientific  in  the  sense  of  being  neutral,  exact 
and  unbiased.  Developing  as  it  has,  as  a  sort  of 
household  necessity,  and  lacking  the  resources  of 
assured  scientific  data  or  the  support  of  coordinated 
methods,  it  is  no  wonder  that  it  is  even  now  in  a 
somewhat  chaotic  state. 

That  a  change  of  viewpoint  will  follow  the  present 
liberal  advance  in  medicine  is  probable.  All  progress 
indicates  the  early  formulation  of  a  synthetic  basis 
upon  which  the  problems  of  many  diseases  may  be 
rationally  resolved.  Medicine  has  been  for  a  long  time 
at  the  parting  of  the  ways.  Like  other  sciences,  it 
has  had  to  evolve  through  the  three  traditional  stages 
of  development :  a  stage  of  superstition  and  empiri- 
cism ;  a  stage  of  experiment  and  accumulation  of 
data;  and  a  final  stage  of  synthesis  and  coordination 
of  facts.  That  medicine  is  well  through  the  second 
stage  and  has  entered  the  final  stage  of  synthesis  in 
which  practical  working  principles  are  being  formu- 
lated is  evidenced  especially  by  the  increasing  control 
of  infectious  diseases.  In  many  instances  the  older 
volumes  filled  with  dissertations  on  certain  diseases 
contain  less  useful  information  than  now  is  comprised 
in  single  sentences  or  words  which  indicate  both  origin 
and  control.  With  malaria  and  yellow  fever  explained 
by  one  word,  mosquito;  diphtheria  reduced  to  bacillus 
and  anti-toxin;  smallpox  disposed  of  in  vaccination; 
bubonic  plague  apprehended  in  infected  vermin;  and 
synthetic  chemistry  producing  such  a  specific  as  sal- 
varsan;  there  is  hope  for  a  like  conquest  of  the  host 
of  chronic  diseases,  and  fairer  promise  for  a  future  of 
preventive  medicine. 


4     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

The  old  restricted  viewpoint,  which  led  pathologist 
and  clinician  to  regard  disease  as  an  isolated  phenom- 
enon, unrelated  to  the  normal  processes  of  the  body, 
is  giving  way  to  the  more  enlightened  view  that  disease 
is  related  to  every  factor  in  the  life  of  the  species.  The 
logical  step  from  this  conclusion  is  to  an  inquiry  into  the 
past,  as  well  as  the  present  environment  of  the  species. 
Medical  progress,  which  began  with  the  study  of  dead 
forms  and  gained  a  great  impulse  from  the  observation 
of  living  processes,  is  now  face  to  face  with  the  necessity 
for  making  a  complete  biologic  picture  of  the  evolution 
of  both  the  form  and  the  functions  of  organisms. 
Phylogeny,  or  the  study  of  the  ancestral  life  of  species, 
will  probably  play  a  more  important  role  in  future 
medical  research. 

Had  Darwin  and  Herbert  Spencer  applied  the  prin- 
ciple of  natural  selection  to  physiology  as  completely  as 
the  former  applied  it  to  anatomy  and  to  gross  behavior, 
they  would  undoubtedly  have  left  to  us  an  important 
compilation  of  data,  thus  establishing  the  basis  for  a 
constructive  theory  of  medicine,  such  as  medicine  has 
never  possessed.  Had  either  Darwin  or  Spencer  applied 
the  fundamental  principle  of  continuity  of  development 
to  the  functions  as  well  as  to  the  structure  of  the  organ- 
ism, we  should  have  been  saved  from  much  of  the  con- 
fusion which  has  resulted  from  the  old  arbitrary  division 
of  organic  processes  into  " physical"  and  "psychical." 
There  is  no  doubt  that  this  unscientific  division  has  de- 
layed the  solution  of  those  medical  problems  which  are 
primarily  concerned  with  nervous  processes. 

Every  step  toward  the  truth  makes  more  evident  the 
fundamental  unity  of  natural  phenomena  and  helps 


INTRODUCTION  5 

to  dissipate  the  false  distinctions  which  have  been  the 
outgrowth  of  imperfect  understanding  of  facts  which 
were  made  more  obscure  by  dogmatic  definitions. 

II 

The  present  volume  is  the  outcome  of  an  effort  to 
harmonize  a  large  amount  of  clinical  and  experimental 
data  by  the  application  of  certain  biologic  principles, 
these  data  having  been  collected  in  the  course  of  re- 
searches which  have  continued  through  many  years. 
This  work  began  with  an  attempt  to  solve  the  problem 
of  surgical  shock,  from  which  it  progressed  further 
into  the  field  of  disease  phenomena,  and  finally,  into 
the  domain  of  so-called  " normal"  processes.  This 
study  seems  to  have  shown  that  the  causation  and 
origin  of  most  normal  and  pathologic  phenomena  differ 
in  no  fundamental  respect. 

One  result  of  this  research  has  been  the  accumula- 
tion of  evidence  tending  to  show  that  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  contact  ceptors,  of  chemical  ceptors,  of  the 
mechanisms  for  overcoming  pyogenic  infections  and 
for  blood  clotting;  in  the  distribution  of  pain  areas 
and  of  special  reflexes  we  have  a  phylogenetic  summary 
of  the  evolution  of  man. 

The  first  practical  application  of  these  studies  was 
the  formulation  of  a  method  of  prevention  of  shock 
through  anoci  association,  or  the  absence  of  harmful 
stimuli.  The  principle  of  anoci  association  was  de- 
duced from  hypotheses  based  upon  experiments.  For 
the  key  which  might  lead  us  to  an  explanation  and 
further  application  we  turned  to  the  past  history  of 
the  species.  Here  we  found  not  only  a  satisfactory 


6     MAN  — AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

explanation  of  our  accumulated  data,  but  suggestions 
for  a  further  research,  which  has  resulted  in  the 
formulation  of  certain  mechanistic  conceptions  of  dis- 
ease. 

Our  studies  showed  that  inhalation  anesthesia  does 
not  prevent  the  transmission  of  traumatic  impulses 
from  the  field  of  operation  to  the  brain,  and  that  shock 
is  the  result  of  the  combined  effect  of  these  traumatic 
impulses  and  of  pre-operative  fear  upon  the  brain. 
We  found  also  that  as  a  result  of  shock  or  exhaustion 
from  any  cause,  certain  histologic  changes  occur  uni- 
formly and  constantly  in  certain  organs  —  notably 
the  brain,  the  liver  and  the  adrenals,  and  we  discovered 
that  both  the  clinical  and  the  histologic  phenomena  of 
shock  could  be  eliminated  by  the  prevention  of  pre- 
operative  fear  and  by  " blocking"  the  nerve  paths  from 
the  field  of  operation  to  the  brain  by  local  anesthesia 
used  in  addition  to  general  anesthesia.  These  facts 
having  been  established  experimentally  and  clinically, 
a  Kinetic  Theory  of  Shock  was  formulated. 

This  theory  accounts  for  shock  as  a  natural  phenom- 
enon related  to  all  other  natural  phenomena,  and, 
like  them,  a  manifestation  of  a  biologic  law,  the  Law  of 
Phylogenetic  Association.  According  to  this  law,  ani- 
mals are  so  constituted  as  to  transform  energy,  at  the 
incidence  of  an  adequate  stimulus,  in  accordance  with 
the  adaptation  of  the  species  to  those  factors  in  the 
environment  which  through  natural  selection  have 
become  adequate  stimuli.  Thus,  when  a  barefoot 
boy  steps  upon  a  sharp  stone,  there  is  an  instant  dis- 
charge of  energy  in  a  motor  act  of  self-preservation. 
This  act  is  neither  a  conscious  reaction,  nor  one  due  to 


INTRODUCTION  7 

the  boy's  individual  (ontogenetic)  experience,  but  is 
the  result  of  the  adaptation  of  his  progenitors,  through 
natural  selection,  throughout  the  vast  eons  required 
to  evolve  the  species,  during  which  the  frequent  re- 
currence of  similar  mechanical  injuries  resulted  in  the 
implantation  of  a  neuro-muscular  mechanism,  adapted 
to  discharge  automatically,  at  the  needed  moment, 
the  required  amount  of  energy  in  the  form  of  an  adap- 
tive muscular  action. 

It  seems  probable  that  in  like  manner  most,  if  not 
all  reactions  are  performed.  Every  adequate  stimulus  j 
awakens  an  ontogenetic  or  phylogenetic  memory  or 
association.  This  leads  to  adaptive  energy  transforma-/ 
tion  —  an  act  performed.  The  energy  thus  expended 
is  subtracted  from  the  sum  total  of  available  potential 
energy  stored  in  the  body.  If  these  stimuli  be  of  suffi- 
cient intensity  and  sufficiently  prolonged,  the  stores  of 
potential  energy  are  diminished,  and  acute  acidosis  is 
established,  i.e.,  the  state  of  shock  may  be  produced. 
But  the  discharges  may  be  of  such  slight  intensity  and 
of  such  short  duration  that  no  appreciable  diminution 
in  potential  energy  is  caused;  in  which  case  the  re- 
sponses —  as  in  the  case  of  the  boy  stepping  on  a 
stone  —  are  deemed  normal  and  not  pathologic. 

Our  experiments  have  demonstrated  that  traumatic 
and  psychic  stimuli  produce  an  increased  hydrogen-ion 
concentration  of  the  blood,  i.e.,  increased  acidity.  If 
the  acid  production  exceeds  the  body's  capacity  for 
neutralization,  there  results  a  condition  of  acute  acid- 
ity to  which  may  be  due  in  part,  or  perhaps  entirely, 
the  rapid  respiration,  the  sweating,  the  thirst,  the  rest- 
lessness, which  are  present  in  shock. 


8     MAN  — AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Our  research  showed  that  animals  subjected  to  fear 
without  muscular  activity  showed  the  same  phenomena 
of  exhaustion  and  the  same  uniform  histologic  changes 
in  the  brain,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver,  as  were  shown 
by  animals  exhausted  by  traumatic  injury  under  ether 
or  by  the  muscular  exertion  oj  running  or  fighting.  It 
is  therefore  obvious  that  these  three  types  of  exhaus- 
tion are  similar,  the  difference  being  that  fatigue  from 
physical  exertion  results  from  an  integration  of  the 
motor  mechanism  with  complete  response  in  activity 
or  obvious  work  performed ;  while  shock  or  exhaustion 
caused  by  emotion  results  from  an  integration  of  the 
nervous  mechanism  without  obvious  work  performed. 
In  the  latter  case  the  exhaustion  is  comparable  to  the 
effect  produced  in  an  electric  automobile  which  has 
been  integrated  to  go  ahead  by  a  closed  circuit,  while 
the  wheels  of  the  machine  are  held  immobile. 

Having  demonstrated  the  apparent  truth  of  the 
Kinetic  Theory  for  traumatic  and  psychic  shock,  we 
undertook  further  researches  to  determine  whether 
this  theory  explained  also  the  exhaustion  produced  by 
infections,  by  drug  stimulants  —  such  as  strychnin, 
by  toxins,  by  foreign  proteins,  by  insomnia,  by  exer- 
tion, etc.  To  this  end  we  examined  all  the  organs  and 
tissues  of  animals  exhausted  by  the  bacteria  and  toxins 
of  infections,  by  foreign  proteins,  by  drug  stimulants, 
by  adrenin,  by  thyroid  extract,  by  many  other 
activating  substances  and  by  insomnia.  The  results 
of  this  study  showed  that  as  in  shock,  histologic 
changes  were  produced  only  in  the  brain,  the  adrenals 
and  the  liver  and  that  these  histologic  changes  were 
identical,  whatever  the  cause  of  exhaustion.  We 


INTRODUCTION  9 

found  also  that  these  changes  were  diminished  by  de- 
pressing the  activity  of  the  brain  by  administering 
morphia  or  nitrous  oxide  during  the  application  of 
the  stimuli.  In  other  words,  the  stimuli  of  mere 
consciousness  and  the  stimuli  of  injury,  of  fear,  or  of 
infection  cause  these  fundamental  lesions;  morphia 
and  nitrous  oxide  diminish  them ;  sleep  cures  them. 

The  foregoing  data  offer  an  explanation  of  the 
identical  phenomena  which  are  attendant  upon  cer- 
tain forms  of  external  and  internal  activation,  but 
they  are  insufficient  to  explain  the  uniform  and,  to  a 
large  degree,  exclusive  participation  of  certain  organs 
-the  brain,  the  adrenals,  the  liver,  the  thyroid  and 
the  muscles  —  in  the  production  of  the  phenomena. 
We  must  infer,  however,  that  these  organs  bear  the 
brunt  of  the  transformation  of  potential  into  kinetic 
energy  and  the  neutralization  of  the  consequent  acid 
by-products  in  the  body  and  that  they  have  been 
evolved  for  that  purpose.  They  merit  therefore  the 
distinction  of  being  termed  the  Kinetic  System. 

According  to  the  evidence  we  shall  present  the 
functions  which  these  organs  are  presumed  to  per- 
form in  the  process  of  transforming  energy  are  as  fol- 
lows :  The  brain  is  the  initiator  of  response,  being 
activated  by  the  environment  within  or  without  the 
body ;  acting  like  a  storage  battery,  it  contributes  the 
initial  spark  and  impulse  which  drives  the  mechanism. 
The  adrenals  act  as  oxidizers,  making  possible  the 
transformation  of  energy  and  the  neutralization  of  the 
resulting  acid  products.  The  liver  is  the  chief  fabri- 
cator and  storehouse  of  the  carbohydrate  fuel  by  which 
muscular  action  and  heat  are  produced.  The  liver 


10     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

also  plays  a  large  role  in  the  neutralization  of  the  acid 
products  of  the  transformation  of  energy.  The  muscles 
are  the  engine  or  motor  in  which  is  consummated  the 
final  step  in  the  transformation  of  energy  into  heat  or 
motion.  The  thyroid  by  supplying  a  secretion  which 
facilitates  the  passage  of  ions  would  seem  to  be  the 
organ  of  speed  control,  governing  the  rate  at  which 
the  transformation  of  energy  is  effected. 

The  postulation  of  the  Kinetic  System  offers  an  ex- 
planation of  the  phenomena  of  acute  activation  of  the 
organism  by  infection,  by  foreign  proteins,  by  exertion, 
by  emotion,  and  by  physical  injury.  As  we  have  al- 
ready stated,  our  experiments  have  demonstrated 
that  increased  activation  produces  increased  acidity 
which  in  turn  throws  increased  work  upon  the  organs 
by  which  the  neutralization  of  acid  is  accomplished. 
As  our  evidence  has  accumulated,  we  have  come  to 
see  that  more  of  the  chronic  diseases  result  from  the 
excessive  work  thrown  upon  certain  organs  for  the  elim- 
ination of  the  superabundant  acid  products  of  energy 
transformation  than  result  primarily  from  the  energy 
transformation  itself. 

The  Kinetic  Theory  offers  an  explanation  of  the  fact 
that  many  different  diseases  are  apparently  the  outcome 
of  the  same  cause,  and  of  the  equally  puzzling  fact  that 
certain  diseases  may  be  the  outcome  of  various  causes. 
It  suggests  the  manner  in  which  continuous  activation 
of  the  Kinetic  System  may  cause  Graves'  disease,  neu- 
rasthenia, cardiovascular  disease,  diabetes,  indigestion, 
certain  forms  of  acidosis  and  Bright 's  disease. 

The  Kinetic  Theory  throws  light  not  only  upon  the 
course  but  upon  the  origin  of  many  of  the  so-called 


INTRODUCTION  11 

" diseases  of  modern  environment/'  which  are  justly 
regarded  as  accompaniments  of  over-strenuous  activity, 
and  it  suggests  that  these  diseases  are  in  many  in- 
stances the  logical  outcome  of  causes  largely  within 
the  control  of  the  individual. 

Moreover,  the  Kinetic  Theory  explains  why  certain 
therapeutic  measures  now  in  use  for  these  diseases 
are  remedial  and  suggests  certain  others  based  upon 
the  principle  of  the  conservation  of  energy  through  the 
exclusion  of  harmful  stimuli  (anoci  association). 

We  shall  offer  evidence  that  the  organs  in  the 
Kinetic  Chain  are  interdependent ;  that  the  total 
work  output  of  the  mechanism  may  be  increased  or 
diminished  according  to  the  increase  or  diminution 
of  the  functional  activity  of  any  one  link  in  the  sys- 
tem. In  this  we  have  a  fact  of  important  therapeutic 
significance  in  the  treatment  of  diseases  which  result 
from  excessive  kinetic  activation.  It  was  by  the  uti- 
lization of  this  principle  that  we  perfected  the  shock- 
less  operation.  The  principle  of  anoci  association  was 
thus  shown  to  be,  in  essence,  an  application  of  the 
principle  of  the  conservation  of  energy,  which  might  be 
utilized  with  equal  efficacy  in  other  conditions  resulting 
from  the  overexcitation  of  the  Kinetic  System,  whether 
by  psychic,  traumatic,  infection,  foreign  protein,  or 
drug  stimulation. 

We  shall  offer  further  evidence  that  deep  opium 
narcosis  (depression  of  the  brain  link)  diminishes  the 
transformation  of  energy  and  conserves  the  organs  of 
the  Kinetic  System  from  destructive  activation  by 
traumatic  injury,  emotion,  the  injection  of  toxins  and 
foreign  proteins.  The  value  of  opium  and  of  its  deriva- 


12     MAX  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

lives  in  peritonitis  (the  Alonzo  Clark  treatment)  and  in 
diabetes  and  arteriosclerosis  has  long  been  known.  It 
is  equally  well  known  that  the  Kinetic  System  may 
be  conserved  in  Graves7  disease  by  depression  of  the 
thyroid  link  through  ligation  of  the  arteries  or  excision 
of  a  portion  of  the  gland.  We  shall  attempt  to  show 
that,  in  like  manner,  certain  other  chronic  diseases 
which  are  temporarily  improved  by  morphia  may, 
like  Graves7  disease,  be  permanently  improved  by  a 
surgical  modification  of  the  Kinetic  System. 

As  we  have  stated,  emotional  activation  —  activation 
by  worry  and  fear  particularly  —  is  as  potent  in  caus- 
ing excessive  transformation  of  energy  and  an  exces- 
sive production  of  acid  by-products  with  consequent 
physical  impairment  as  are  any  other  kinetic  stimuli. 
It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the  absence  of  worry 
and  fear  may  aid  in  stopping  the  body-wide  activations 
which  lead  to  an  organic  breakdown.  The  therapeutic 
value  of  rest,  of  change  of  scene,  of  diversion,  and  the 
restorative  powers  of  happiness  and  success  and  con- 
genial surroundings  are  thus  explained  in  terms  of 
approximate  physical  value. 

The  significance  of  the  principle  of  energy  conserva- 
tion to  many  phases  of  life  is  no  less  impressive.  If 
the  effect  upon  physiological  processes  of  faith  in  the 
remedial  agent  is  of  itself  far-reaching,  to  what  extent 
might  not  the  conservation  of  energy  accomplished  as 
a  result  of  education  and  training,  of  a  larger  knowledge 
of  natural  laws  and  true  values  in  life,  aid  in  the  attain- 
ment of  a  happier  adaptation  to  environment. 

It  is  particularly  in  the  domain  of  preventive  medi- 
cine, however,  that  the  application  of  the  mechanistic 


INTRODUCTION  13 

principle  of  the  conservation  of  energy  in  the  human 
body  is  of  immediate  and  practical  benefit.  That 
faith  in  a  final  outcome  for  good  can  control  and 
may  even  prevent  the  occurrence  of  many  abnormal 
states  which  border  closely  on  disease,  we  have  abun- 
dant proof.  That  it  can  be  utilized  to  a  far  greater 
extent  than  is  now  realized  is  the  indication  of  our 
findings  in  the  laboratory  and  in  the  clinic.  To  what 
extent  it  may  be  utilized  scientifically  depends  upon 
the  disclosures  of  further  research.  Perhaps  an  indul- 
gent hearing  may  be  invoked  for  the  author's  belief 
that  the  individual  who  accepts  the  theory  of  the 
conservation  of  energy  in  the  Kinetic  System  can  and 
undoubtedly  will  do  much  to  stem  the  tide  of  harmful 
activities  now  draining  his  energies  to  no  purpose; 
and  that  with  this  clearer  understanding  he  will  be 
able  to  construct  for  himself  a  plan  of  life  more  con- 
ducive to  longevity  and  happiness  than  his  present 
blind  yielding  to  environmental  coercion. 

It  is  with  the  desire  of  increasing  the  scope  of  pre- 
ventive medicine ;  with  the  hope  of  relieving  and  even 
of  curing  certain  acute  and  chronic  diseases  and  of 
stimulating  a  biologic  trend  of  thought  in  medicine  to 
the  end  that  disease  like  health  may  be  given  its  evolu- 
tionary setting,  that  this  volume  is  offered. 


PART   I 

GENERAL   CONSIDERATION   OF  BIOLOGIC 
ADAPTATION   AND  ASCENT   OF   MAN 


15 


CHAPTER  I 

ADAPTATION   TO   ENVIRONMENT 

EVERYTHING  in  nature,  living  or  not  living,  exists 
and  develops  at  the  expense  of  some  other  thing,  liv- 
ing or  not  living.  The  plant  borrows  from  the  soil; 
the  soil  from  the  rocks  and  the  atmosphere ;  men  and 
animals  take  from  the  plants  and  from  each  other  the 
elements  which  they  in  death  return  to  the  soil,  the 
atmosphere  and  the  plants.  Year  after  year,  century 
after  century,  eon  after  eon,  the  mighty,  immeasurable, 
ceaseless  round  of  elements  goes  on,  in  the  stupendous 
process  of  chemical  change,  which  marks  the  eternal 
life  of  matter.  No  human  imagination  is  powerful 
enough  to  picture  the  vast,  the  infinite  antiquity  of  the 
tiniest  particle  of  matter  which  composes  our  present 
bodies  and  environment,  or  the  varied  and  spectacular 
trail  of  cosmic  vicissitudes  through  which  it  has  passed. 

To  the  superficial  observer,  nature  in  all  her  parts 
seems  imbued  with  a  spirit  of  profound  peace  and  har- 
mony ;  to  the  scientist  it  is  obvious  that  every  infin- 
itesimal particle  of  the  immense  concourse  is  in  a  state 
of  desperate  and  ceaseless  struggle  to  obtain  such 
share  of  the  available  supply  of  matter  and  energy  as 
will  suffice  to  maintain  its  present  ephemeral  form 
in  a  state  of  equilibrium  with  its  surroundings.  Not 
only  is  this  struggle  manifest  among  living  forms, 
c  17 


18    MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

among  birds  and  beasts  and  insects  in  their  competi- 
tion for  food  and  habitat,  but  —  if  we  may  believe  the 
revelations  of  the  science  of  radio-activity  —  a  process 
of  transmutation,  of  disintegration  of  the  atoms  of  one 
element  with  simultaneous  formation  of  another  ele- 
ment, is  taking  place  in  ever}7  fragment  of  inanimate 
matter,  a  process  which  parallels  in  character  the  more 
transitory  processes  of  life  and  death  in  organisms  and 
is  probably  a  representation  of  the  primary  steps  in 
that  great  process  of  evolution  by  which  all  terrestrial 
forms,  organic  and  inorganic,  have  been  evolved  from 
the  original  ether,  by  an  action  inconceivably  slow, 
continuous  and  admitting  of  no  break  in  the  series 
from  inanimate  to  animate  forms. 

By  the  superficial  observer  only  two  kinds  of  phe- 
nomena are  distinguished  in  nature,  the  living  and  the 
non-living;  animate  and  inanimate  matter;  but  to 
the  scientist  nothing  is  dead.  All  matter  participates 
in  the  universal  inter-atomic  whirl,  of  which  radio- 
activity is  a  marvelous  manifestation,  and  within 
the  atom  there  are  worlds  within  worlds  of  concentri- 
cally moving  particles.  The  universe  is  a  seething 
caldron  of  continuous  change,  the  basis  of  which 
is  motion.  Motion  underlies  all  change,  whether 
physical  or  chemical,  in  both  animate  and  inani- 
mate matter.  Growth  and  decay  are  but  relative 
changes  which  express  the  common  tendency  of  all 
cosmic  forces  to  equilibrium. 

The  Coming  of  Life 

What  initiated  motion,  science  cannot  tell  us.  In 
the  main,  however,  scientists  agree  in  regarding  the 


ADAPTATION   TO   ENVIRONMENT     19 

process  of  evolution  as  continuous  from  the  birth  of 
the  earth  in  star  nebula?  to  the  coming  of  man,  al- 
though it  is  unknown  how  many  and  how  varied  have 
been  the  steps  between,  or  how  infinitely  prolonged 
has  been  the  process.  We  know  that  vast  periods  of 
time  must  have  intervened  between  the  inauguration 
of  motion  and  the  appearance  of  forms  approximating 
our  terrestrial  rocks  and  gulfs;  and  that  additional 
myriads  of  ages  must  have  been  required  to  produce 
the  first  ultramicroscopic  particles  of  quasi-living 
matter,  which  scientists  regard  as  the  probable  step 
intermediate  between  non-living  and  living  matter. 
How  many  more  millenniums  had  to  pass  before  un- 
doubted moving,  assimilating  and  reproducing  forms 
of  life  appeared,  it  is  useless  to  conjecture.  It  is 
probable,  however,  that  the  terrestrial  stage  was 
already  well  stocked  with  reactionary  factors  in  the 
shape  of  gases,  liquids,  solids,  light,  changing  tempera- 
tures, and  the  like,  when  the  first  mass  of  ancestral 
colloidal  slime  appeared. 

From  colloidal  slime  to  man  is  a  long  road,  the  con- 
ception of  which  taxes  our  imaginations  to  the  utmost, 
but  it  is  an  ascent  which  is  now  fairly  well  demonstrated. 
Indeed,  the  problems  of  the  missing  links  are  not  so 
difficult  as  is  the  problem  of  the  origin  of  the  organs 
and  functions  which  man  has  acquired  as  products  of 
adaptation.  For  whether  we  look  upon  the  component 
parts  of  our  present  bodies  as  useful  or  useless  mecha- 
nisms, we  must  regard  them  as  the  result  of  age-long 
conflicts  between  environmental  forces  and  organisms. 

As  a  result  of  the  struggles  for  survival,  there  ensued 
automatically  an  approximate  adjustment  of  indi- 


20     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

viduals  to  the  supply  of  food,  which  has  resulted  in  the 
present  almost  perfectly  balanced  distribution  of  groups 
and  species  of  plants  and  animals,  all  utilizing  in  cycles 
the  same  matter  and  the  same  energy.  Plants  obtain 
their  nourishment  from  mineral  substances  through 
their  utilization  of  solar  energy.  Plants  are  food  for 
animals;  animals  die,  disintegrate  and  become  food 
for  plants.  Thus  matter  circulates  eternally,  the  radi- 
ant energy  of  the  sun  being  transformed  by  plants 
into  chemical  energy,  which  in  turn  supplies  the  energy 
of  animals,  by  which  it  is  returned  to  the  external 
world  in  the  form  of  heat  and  motion.  All  this  is  ac- 
complished in  such  a  way  and  in  such  succession  as 
to  occasion  the  least  amount  of  friction,  so  as  to  give, 
indeed,  an  effect  of  perfect  harmony  throughout 
nature. 

In  all  this  concourse  of  living  and  non-living  bodies, 
the  one  most  conspicuous  feature  is  the  facility  with 
which  each  individual  —  atom,  molecule,  animal, 
species,  group  —  responds  in  an  adaptive  manner  to 
the  entities  in  its  environment,  or  dies  —  disintegrates 
-  and  in  disintegrating  surrenders  the  elements  which 
allow  other  entities  to  assume  the  burden  of  existence 
or  to  become  more  completely  adapted  to  their  sur- 
roundings. It  is  the  omnipresent  working  of  this 
universal  law  of  equilibrium,  compromise,  or  "  adapta- 
tion/' which  is  at  the  bottom  of  that  appearance  of 
homogeneity  and  peace  which  leads  the  casual  observer 
to  believe  that  nature  is  the  result  of  design.  The 
peace  he  sees,  however,  is  but  the  relative  peace  of 
the  center  of  a  mighty  whirlpool,  or  the  grim,  trenchant 
peace  of  the  battle-field  deserted  after  carnage;  and 


ADAPTATION   TO   ENVIRONMENT     21 

the  harmony  is  but  the  harmony  of  gigantic  wheels 
driving  round  in  perfect  rhythm,  but,  as  they  drive, 
grinding  like  the  "  mills  of  the  gods,  exceeding  small  and 
most  exceeding  fine." 

The  Struggle  for  Existence 

Darwin  has  called  this  process  of  friction  and  change 
in  nature  the  "  struggle  for  existence."  He  shows, 
in  the  " Origin  of  Species,"  how  this  struggle  results 
in  the  "elimination"  of  types  " unfitted"  to  survive, 
and  in  the  perpetuation  of  types  in  all  respects  "fitted 
to  survive"  because  their  forms  and  functions  have 
been  fashioned  by  adaptation.  For  the  sake  of  con- 
venience and  vividness  we  retain  most  of  the  familiar 
terms  of  Darwin.  But  it  is  not  strictly  in  accordance 
with  the  mechanistic  view,  which  we  hold,  to  speak 
of  an  automatic  reaction  as  a  "struggle"  between  the 
reagents.  One  does  not  assume  struggle  or  volition 
on  the  part  of  the  elements  when  they  enter  into  chemi- 
cal combination.  In  like  manner,  although  it  is  con- 
venient to  speak  of  this  world-wide  activation,  which 
destroys  many  that  a  few  may  survive,  in  terms  of  the 
struggle  which  it  resembles,  we  do  not  assume  the 
existence  of  any  "innate  faculty"  or  "will"  or  "desire 
to  live,"  either  in  the  individuals  which  survive  or  in 
those  which  are  lost.  Many  terms  of  the  established 
vocabulary  of  evolution  have  a  tendency  to  convey 
this  teleological  meaning,  which  we  wish  to  avoid. 
For  that  reason,  whenever  in  the  description  of  natural 
processes  it  is  possible  to  substitute  a  word  or  phrase 
equally  brief  but  more  neutral  than  the  old  terms,  we 
shall  do  so,  avoiding  the  phraseology,  while  main- 


22     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

taining  the  principle  of  evolution.  From  this  view- 
point the  operations  of  " natural  selection"  are  passive 
rather  than  active ;  are  portrayed  in  terms  of  both 
environment  and  species,  rather  than  in  terms  of 
species  alone. 

Mechanisms  of  Adaptation 

In  the  first  delight  of  finding  a  rich  display  of 
beautiful  and  ingenious  mechanisms  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  life  in  plants  and  animals,  we  are  prone 
to  overestimate  the  " marvelous  efficacy"  of  these 
contrivances,  and  to  ignore  the  presence  of  many 
imperfect  and  involved  mechanisms,  which  make  life 
precarious  for  the  average  organism.  For  example, 
what  a  vast  amount  of  superfluous  energy  has  appar- 
ently been  wasted  in  making  the  long-distance  arrange- 
ments for  fertilization  in  certain  plants,  which  first 
produce  flowers  and  then  the  nectar  by  which  to  attract 
insects  on  the  chance  that  they  may  brush  against 
the  pollen  and  carry  it  to  another  flower !  How  crude 
are  some  of  the  mechanisms  in  human  bodies  - 
the  twenty  or  more  feet  of  intestines,  which  give  har- 
borage to  poisonous  germs  and  gases ;  the  appendix 
vermiformiSj  and  various  other  cumbersome  arrange- 
ments, which  the  surgeon  is  daily  called  upon  to 
remedy ! 

The  fact  is  that  the  present  form  of  man  is  the  result 
of  an  inconceivably  long  and  tedious  process  of  addition 
and  subtraction,  of  grafting  character  upon  character  in 
somewhat  the  same  haphazard  fashion  as  in  certain 
mountains  in  South  America  stones  are  thrown  by  the 
wayfarer  upon  a  lone  Indian  grave.  Some  land  sc- 


ADAPTATION   TO   ENVIRONMENT     23 

curely  and  augment  the  mound,  while  others  fall  at 
random  and  roll  away,  the  desired  result  being  achieved, 
however  —  a  memorial  to  the  one  who  lies  beneath 
the  pile.  If  the  result  of  man's  haphazard  assemblage 
of  organs  is  to  some  extent  adequate  to  the  needs  of 
his  present  environment,  it  is  because  during  the  age- 
long processes  of  evolution  all  the  fatally  awkward 
combinations  have  been  eliminated  by  a  struggle  so 
keen  that  the  slightest  variation  in  the  length  of  a 
leaf,  the  strength  of  a  limb  or  the  color  of  an  egg, 
has  given  the  victory  to  a  rival  species.  Through- 
out this  struggle  survival  has  depended  on  one  of 
two  conditions :  the  possession  of  extreme  stability, 
the  quality  of  withstanding  all  destructive  forces  in 
the  environment ;  or  the  possession  of  lability,  the 
quality  of  adaptability  to  various  conditions  in  the 
environment.  Rocks  are  an  example  of  the  first 
condition ;  man  and  higher  animals  of  the  second. 

Twenty-four  hundred  years  ago  Heraclitus  likened 
life  to  a  flame,  and  no  analogy  more  fitting  has  ever 
been  proposed.  Life  is  sustained  by  the  same  sort  of 
combustion  as  that  in  the  flame.  The  contour  of  the 
flame,  like  the  outward  aspect  of  the  body,  is  ever  the 
same,  but  the  contents  of  both  are  continually  chang- 
ing. In  the  flame  atoms  of  carbon  and  of  oxygen  are 
constantly  combined  to  form  carbon  dioxid  and  energy 
is  constantly  released  in  the  form  of  heat,  while  in  the 
body  energy  is  derived  from  the  oxidation  of  carbon 
contained  in  foodstuffs .  Like  the  energy  in  coal  the 
energy  latent  in  food  compounds  was  obtained  origi- 
nally from  the  sun.  The  energy-containing  food  com- 
pounds in  plants  are  devoured  by  plant-eating  animals, 


24     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

and  again  by  flesh-eating  animals,  which  prey  upon 
the  herbivora.  In  their  bodies  it  is  reduced  again 
to  carbon  dioxid  and  exhaled,  only  to  be  reabsorbed 
again  by  plants,  stored  again  in  plants  by  sunlight 
and  again  taken  into  the  animal  body.  Thus  occurs 
the  ceaseless  round  of  matter  and  energy,  by  which 
is  perpetuated  a  complete  cycle  of  " adaptation,"  not 
only  of  plants  and  animals  to  each  other,  but  of  ele- 
ments to  organisms,  and  of  all  to  the  sun's  radiance. 

As  we  rise  higher  in  the  life  scale,  the  law  of  "  adapta- 
tion, "  by  which  character  is  silently  and  invisibly 
determined  in  the  world  of  atoms,  becomes  more  obvious 
and  concrete,  until  in  the  world  of  animals  it  is  exempli- 
fied by  a  face-to-face  conflict  of  individuals  which  is 
more  desperate  and  thrilling  than  any  artificial  drama 
ever  staged  by  man.  Here  in  a  world-wide  trail  of 
blood  are  to  be  traced  the  workings  of  that  invisible 
law  of  balance,  the  violation  of  which  among  gases 
meant  only  " friction."  On  land  and  sea,  in  forest, 
field  and  stream,  are  to  be  seen  evidences  of  the  mighty 
conflict  resulting  in  the  elimination  of  those  individuals 
unfit  for  survival,  and  the  perpetuation  of  species 
safely  modified  to  their  surroundings.  In  looking  out 
upon  tne  face  of  nature,  radiant  with  sunshine,  color 
and  the  song  of  birds,  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  a  whole- 
sale destruction  of  life  is  being  enacted  in  every  corner 
of  verdant  splendor.  Yet  each  one  of  those  little  birds 
singing  so  blithely,  each  of  the  skipping  grasshoppers, 
has  made  a  meal  of  some  other  living  thing  in  its 
environment.  In  the  downward  swoop  of  the  robin 
upon  the  worm,  in  the  hasty  scamper  of  a  rabbit 
through  the  fern,  in  the  steady  pecking  of  the  wood- 


ADAPTATION  TO   ENVIRONMENT    25 

pecker  for  insects  in  the  bark  of  a  tree,  in  the  light- 
ning-like dash  of  a  lizard  to  cover  under  a  rock,  in 
the  stealthy  advance  of  a  snake  upon  a  bird's  nest,  in 
the  scream  of  an  eagle  overhead,  we  have  vivid  glimpses 
of  nature  showing  her  teeth,  of  the  tragic  side  of  life, 
which,  because  it  is  familiar  to  us,  seems  right  and 
beautiful  and  placid. 

Everywhere  something  is  pursuing  and  something 
is  escaping  another  creature.  It  is  a  constant  drama 
of  getting  food  and  of  seeking  to  escape  being  made 
food,  evolving  in  the  conflict  structures  fitted  to  accom- 
plish both  reactions.  Everywhere  the  strong  prey 
upon  the  weak,  the  swift  upon  the  slow,  the  clever 
upon  the  stupid ;  and  the  weak,  the  slow,  the  stupid 
retaliate  by  evolving  mechanisms  of  defense,  which 
more  or  less  adequately  repel  or  render  futile  the  op- 
pressor's attack.  For  each  must  live,  and  those  al- 
ready living  have  proved  their  right  to  existence- by  a 
more  or  less  complete  adaptation  to  their  environment. 
The  result  of  this  twofold  conflict  between  living  beings 
is  to  evolve  the  manifold  structures  and  functions  - 
teeth,  claws,  skin,  color,  fur,  feathers,  horns,  tusks, 
wily  instincts,  strength,  stealth,  deceit  and  humility  - 
which  make  up  character  in  the  animal  world.  Accord- 
ing to  the  nature  and  number  of  each  being's  enemies 
has  its  own  special  mechanism  been  evolved,  dis- 
tinguishing it  from  its  fellows  and  enabling  it  to  get  a 
living  in  its  particular  environment. 

The  survival  of  any  organism  implies  that  it  is  pro- 
tected against  adverse  climate,  against  starvation 
and  against  annihilation  by  enemies,  in  order  that  it 
may  live  and  produce  offspring.  In  each  instance, 


26     MAN  — AX   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

the  conditions  governing  the  struggle  vary,  and  the 
evolved  mechanisms  are  correspondingly  distinctive. 
In  the  waste  places  of  the  earth  the  struggle  is  more 
particularly  with  the  climate  —  against  the  severity 
of  heat,  cold  and  drouth,  and  against  a  scarcity  of 
food.  Here  may  be  seen  such  devices  as  are  found 
among  the  plants  of  the  desert  —  gaunt,  geometrical 
forms  covered  with  spikes  instead  of  leaves,  to  prevent 
the  evaporation  of  moisture,  and  with  roots  which 
are  many  times  the  size  of  the  bush  above,  that  they 
may  make  vast  ramifications  into  the  earth  below  in 
a  search  for  water.  Again,  in  more  verdant  spots, 
where  food  is  plentiful,  but  many  individuals  are 
seeking  it,  the  fight  for  possession  is  between  species 
as  well  as  within  each  species.  Here  the  plant,  sup- 
plied with  abundant  moisture  but  surrounded  by  a 
thicket  of  other  equally  eager  plants,  must  evolve  a 
device  for  scattering  its  seeds  abroad.  Hence  come 
the  various  contrivances  of  fruit  and  flowers  by  which 
animals  are  enticed  to  devour  the  seed  and  eject  it ; 
or  by  which  the  seeds  are  easily  disseminated  by  the 
wind — balloon-like  pods  in  which  the  seeds  are  encased, 
easily  rolled  along  by  the  wind;  hooks  or  spikes  by 
means  of  which  the  seeds  adhere  to  the  hides  of  beasts ; 
or  elegant  plumage  like  that  of  the  dandelion,  by  means 
of  which  the  seeds  are  lightly  wafted  by  the  breeze. 
Each  variation,  as  it  occurs  sporadically,  is  adjudged 
by  the  environment,  condemned  and  suppressed  if 
harmful ;  approved,  perpetuated  and  perfected  if 
advantageous. 

The  same  end  is  attained  by  a  variety  of  means, 
each  organism  seeming  to  have  hit  upon  a  combina- 


ADAPTATION   TO   ENVIRONMENT    27 

tion  not  preempted  by  others  and  coming  finally  to 
depend  upon  its  one  particular  mode  of  defense.  Here, 
a  weak,  stupid  animal  is  sheltered  under  a  shell  or 
carapace,  leading  its  narrow  life  in  the  very  shadow 
of  fierce  and  powerful  animals,  yet  effectively  pro- 
tected from  them.  Here,  another  flits  from  limb  to 
limb  lightly,  pecking  its  food  daintily,  hiding  its  eggs 
carefully,  and  skillfully  deceiving  or  diverting  its  wily 
and  more  powerful  enemies.  Here,  a  sleek  and  lazy 
creature,  without  shell  or  armor,  wings  for  flying, 
or  claws  for  fighting,  keeps  its  enemies  at  a  distance 
by  the  production  of  an  acrid  or  repellent  odor.  Here 
a  slipping,  sliding  thing  effects  by  fangs  and  venom 
what  its  neighbor  accomplishes  by  a  barbed  skin  or 
a  repulsive  emanation.  Here,  a  huge  forest  prowler, 
muscled  as  with  whipcord,  survives  by  sheer  strength, 
while  another,  lacking  this  strength,  depends  upon 
the  fleetness  of  its  limbs,  the  keenness  of  its  eye,  the 
acuteness  of  its  hearing,  living  on  its  wits  as  verily 
as  any  human  adventurer.  Here,  a  delicate  little 
creature,  like  the  field  mouse,  preyed  upon  by  every- 
thing in  its  neighborhood  —  snake,  hawk  and  owl, 
lacking  any  of  the  more  powerful  defenses,  survives 
by  the  sheer  fact  of  its  great  fertility.  Here,  the  ele- 
phant, slowest  of  breeders,  being  superior  to  attack, 
stalks  unmolested  through  the  forest,  but  finds  its 
struggle  in  a  hunt  for  food. 

In  every  case  the  fate  of  each  creature  seems  to  have 
been  staked  upon  one  mechanism.  The  tiger  by  its 
teeth  and  claws,  the  elephant  and  the  rhinoceros  by 
their  strength,  the  bird  by  its  wings,  the  deer  by  its 
fleetness,  the  turtle  by  its  carapace — all  are  enabled 


28     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

to  counter  the  attacks  of  enemies  and  to  procreate. 
Where  there  is  a  negative  defense,  such  as  a  shell  or 
quills,  there  is  little  need  and  no  evidence  of  intelli- 
gence ;  where  a  rank  odor,  no  need  and  no  presence  of 
claws  or  carapace ;  where  sting  or  venom,  no  need 
and  no  possession  of  odor,  claws,  shell,  extraordinary 
strength  or  sagacity. 

Where  the  struggle  is  most  bitter,  there  exist  the  most 
complex  and  most  numerous  contrivances  for  living. 
Where  food  is  easy  of  access,  as,  for  instance,  among 
some  sea  animals  which  feed  upon  the  microorganisms 
in  the  water,  there  is  little  need  of  more  than  the 
siphon-like  appendages  which  are  waved  about  in 
the  medium  containing  food  while  the  animal  like  a 
plant  clings  to  a  rock  or  shell. 

Form  and  Color  Obliteration 

Obliteration  of  color  and  form  is  one  of  the  most 
effectual  methods  by  which  certain  animals  survive. 
So  useful  has  been  this  device  of  color  obliteration 
that  in  practically  every  part  of  the  world  many  liv- 
ing things  are  in  color  similar  to  the  immobile  things 
among  which  they  live.  Thus  green  is  a  common 
color  for  animals  in  the  evergreen  forests  of  the 
tropics;  white  is  the  prevailing  color  in  the  arctic 
regions  and  a  yellowish  hue  is  common  in  desert 
places.  Some  birds,  like  the  ptarmigan,  an  inhabitant 
of  the  Canadian  Rockies,  alter  their  color  according 
to  the  season  of  the  year  to  match  colors  in  the  en- 
vironment, their  coats  being  white  in  the  winter,  green 
or  gray  in  the  summer  and  mottled  in  the  spring  and 
fall.  (Fig.  1.)  The  ermine  fox  of  the  north  has  the 


ADAPTATION  TO  ENVIRONMENT    29 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN 
WHITE  TAILED 

PTARMIGAN 


SHOWING 

TRANSITIONAL  PLUMAGE 


1  MOTHER  *NP  CHICKS 

JUL.Y  11,1900. 

2  FALL   PLUM/^GE 

SEPT.  23,1902: 

3  WINTER     PLUMAGE 

Nov.     o 

Photos   by 

R   WAE.R.EN 
Mt.  Emmon.s 

nison.   C-oorvty 
COLOR.  APO. 


FIG.  1.  —  PROTECTIVE   COLORATION  OF  THE   ROCKY   MOUNTAIN  WHITE- 
TAILED  PTARMIGAN. 


30     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

same  adaptability.  Creatures  that  commonly  haunt 
the  night,  such  as  mice,  moles  and  bats,  have  a  dusky 
hue.  The  fishes  that  swim  along  the  coral  reefs  in 
tropical  waters  have  gorgeous  tints  which  mingle  with 
their  environment.  Certain  marine  organisms  that 
float  on  the  surface  of  the  water  are  tinged  to  accord 
with  the  scenery  above  and  below  their  habitat,  so  that 
from  above  they  appear  blue,  in  harmony  with  the 
color  of  the  ocean,  while  to  their  enemies  below  they  are 
white,  harmonizing  with  the  clouds  and  the  foam  as 
seen  from  below. 

Many  animals,  conspicuous  when  they  are  out  of 
their  native  haunts,  are  practically  invisible  in  their 
natural  habitats.  The  vividly  striped  zebra,  and  the 
tiger  with  its  yellow  and  black  markings,  when  seen 
in  the  midst  of  the  tall  grasses  and  reeds  of  their  natural 
environments  are  so  identically  a  part  of  the  light  and 
shadows  as  to  be  scarcely  noticeable.  The  giraffe, 
with  its  knotty  head  and  blotchy  skin,  when  standing 
in  the  thickets  of  its  native  forest,  is  a  perfect  match 
for  the  blanched  and  broken  branches  of  dead  trees. 

Among  the  small  creatures  of  our  own  forests  and 
plains,  concealing  and  revealing  coloration  is  a  constant 
source  of  surprise  and  interest  to  the  beholder.  It  is 
not  its  coloring  alone  but  also  its  shape  and  its  manner 
of  holding  itself  in  relation  to  the  object  upon  which 
it  rests,  that  secures  for  an  animal  the  resemblance 
which  is  its  protection  against  enemies  which  are 
often  of  similar  color  and  shape.  Down  in  a  cool  spot 
near  a  stream  in  the  woods  one  may  see  a  green  frog 
poised  for  a  fly,  the  fly  so  colored  as  to  be  scarcely 
visible  over  the  surface  of  the  water,  while  above  hangs 


ADAPTATION   TO   ENVIRONMENT    31 

a  brown-and-green  snake,  head  extended,  fangs  out, 
ready  to  pounce  upon  its  green  victim,  the  frog ;  behind 
the  snake  and  above  it,  the  almost  invisible  snake- 
eating  bird  is  poised  for  her  prey  with  the  same  calm 
assurance  that  she  herself  is  unseen.  Sometimes  the 
protective  coloring  extends  only  to  the  offspring  or  to 
the  eggs,  which  are  colored  so  as  to  match  the  leaves 
among  which  they  lie.  The  little  chicks  of  the  wild 
turkey,  herself  more  or  less  protectively  colored,  are 
perfectly  matched  to  the  dry  yellow  leaves  among 
which  lies  the  nest,  from  which  the  mother  turkey  may 
depart  and  leave  them  in  security. 

As  we  thus  look  out  upon  the  vast  array  of  life, 
we  see  species  that  have  made  use  of  every  possible 
opportunity  open  to  them.  What  one  has  not  found 
as  a  mode  of  defense,  another  seems  to  have  hit  upon 
with  a  marvelous  aptitude.  Every  form  of  diet,  every 
phase  of  environment,  every  device  for  capture  or  es- 
cape has  apparently  been  utilized. 

Throughout  its  whole  course  the  process  of  evolu- 
tion, where  it  is  visible  in  the  struggle  of  organisms, 
has  been  marked  by  a  progressive  victory  of  brain 
over  brawn.  And  this,  in  turn,  may  be  regarded  as 
but  a  manifestation  of  the  process  of  survival  by 
lability  rather  than  by  stability.  Everywhere  the  or- 
ganism that  exhibits  the  qualities  of  quick  response, 
of  extreme  sensibility  to  stimuli,  of  capacity  to  change, 
is  the  individual  that  survives,  "  conquers,"  "  ad- 
vances." The  quality  most  useful  in  nature,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  domination  of  a  wider  environ- 
ment, is  the  quality  of  changeableness,  plasticity,  mo- 
bility or  versatility.  Man's  particular  means  of  adapta- 


32     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

tion  to  his  environment  is  this  quality  of  versatility. 
By  means  of  this  quality  expressed  through  the  mani- 
fold reactions  of  his  highly  organized  central  nervous 
system,  man  has  been  able  to  dominate  the  beasts, 
and  to  maintain  himself  in  an  environment  many  times 
more  extensive  than  theirs.  Like  the  defensive  mech- 
anisms of  shells,  poisons  and  odors,  man's  partic- 
ular defensive  mechanism  —  his  versatility  of  nerv- 
ous response  (mind)  —  was  acquired  automatically 
as  the  result  of  a  particular  combination  of  circum- 
stances in  his  environment. 

The  Rise  of  Man 

In  the  Tertiary  era  —  some  twenty  millions  of  years 
ago  —  the  earth,  basking  in  the  warmth  of  a  tropical 
climate,  had  produced  a  luxuriant  vegetation,  and  a 
swarming  progeny  of  gigantic  small-brained  animals 
for  which  the  exuberant  vegetation  provided  abundant 
and  easily  acquired  sustenance.  They  were  a  breed 
of  huge,  clumsy  and  grotesque  monsters,  vast  in  bulk 
and  strength,  but  of  little  intelligence,  that  wandered 
heavily  on  the  land  and  gorged  lazily  on  the  abundant 
food  at  hand.  At  that  time  there  prevailed  such  types 
as  the  giant  dinosaurs,  mere  feeding  and  breeding 
machines.  They  were  essentially  the  product  of  pros- 
perous days,  destined  to  perish  at  the  first  onslaught 
of  adversity.  With  the  advance  of  the  carnivora,  the 
primitive  forerunners  of  our  tigers,  wolves,  hyenas  and 
foxes,  came  a  period  of  stress,  comparable  to  a  seven 
years  of  famine  following  a  seven  years  of  plenty,  which 
subjected  the  stolid  herbivorous  monsters  to  a  severe 
selective  struggle. 


ADAPTATION  TO  ENVIRONMENT    33 

Before  the  active  onslaught  of  lighter,  lither,  more 
intelligent  foes,  the  clumsy,  inelastic  types  succumbed, 
those  only  surviving  which,  through  the  fortunate 
possession  of  more  varied  reactions,  were  able  to  evolve 
modes  of  defense  equal  to  the  modes  of  attack  possessed 
by  their  enemies.  This  was  a  time  when  the  quality 
most  needed  for  survival  was  the  ability  to  perceive 
enemies  afar  and  to  flee  from  them.  The  majority  of 
the  leaf-eating  species  could  not  stand  this  test  and 
perished.  Those  more  plastic  forms  which  survived 
became  our  modern  horse,  deer,  antelope,  ox  and  ele- 
phant. Many,  unable  to  evolve  the  acute  senses  and 
fleet  limbs  necessary  for  the  combat  on  the  ground, 
shrank  from  the  fray  and  acquired  more  negative  and 
passive  means  of  defense.  Some,  like  the  bat,  escaped 
into  the  air.  Others,  such  as  the  squirrel  and  the  ape, 
took  refuge  in  the  trees. 

It  was  in  this  concourse  of  weak  creatures  which  fled 
to  the  trees  because  they  lacked  adequate  means  of 
offense,  defense  or  escape  on  the  ground,  that  the  linea- 
ments of  man's  ancient  ancestor  might  have  been  dis- 
cerned. One  can  imagine  what  must  have  been  the 
pressure  from  the  carnivora  that  forced  a  selective 
transformation  of  the  feet  of  the  progenitor  of  the 
anthropoids  into  grasping  hands.  Coincidentally  with 
the  tree  life,  man's  special  line  of  adaptation  - 
versatility  —  was  undoubtedly  rapidly  evolved.  In- 
creased versatility  and  the  evolution  of  hands  enabled 
man  to  come  down  from  the  trees,  millions  of  years 
thereafter,  to  conquer  the  world  by  the  further  evolu- 
tion and  exercise  of  his  organ  of  strategy  —  the 
brain.  Thus  we  may  suppose  have  arisen  the  intri- 


34     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


o 

In 

1= 


i  e£ 

I  i-s 

N  is 

I'M 

.Q 

II 

"u   ri 

HO 


ADAPTATION   TO   ENVIRONMENT    35 

cate  reactions  we  now  call  mind,  reason,  foresight, 
invention,  etc. 

In  the  end  it  proved  unfortunate  for  the  carnivora 
that  they  forced  the  ancestors  of  man  to  the  trees,  for 
it  was  there  that  they  secured  the  training  which  made 
it  possible  for  primeval  man  to  wage  upon  the  carnivora 
a  warfare  a  thousand-fold  more  disastrous  than  the 
latter  had  waged  upon  the  stupid  Tertiary  monsters. 
With  what  bewilderment  these  autocrats  of  the  forest 
must  have  viewed  the  maneuverings  of  these  little 
beasts,  which  they  had  learned  to  disregard  because 
of  their  lack  of  strength  or  weapons,  as  they  prepared 
a  defense  out  of  sticks  and  stones  !  With  what  amaze- 
ment they  must  have  watched  these  primeval  men  as 
they  fled  to  the  hills  and  sent  back  stinging  darts 
and  flint-tipped  arrows  that  bit  into  the  flesh  and 
clung  and  brought  them  low !  (Fig.  2.)  With  what 
awe  they  must  have  peered  out  upon  the  first  ring 
of  fire  man  built  for  himself  as  a  protection  against 
their  marauding;  and  how  strange  and  halting  must 
have  been  the  first  faint  gropings  of  man  himself  in 
the  use  of  that  mighty  element,  mastery  over  which 
was  to  mean  to  him  the  lordship  of  all  creation !  No 
pen  is  powerful  enough  to  depict  the  thrilling  details 
of  this  most  wonderful  of  all  stories  —  the  tale  of  man's 
gradual  rise,  of  the  age-long  conflict,  marked  by  des- 
perate hand-to-hand  encounters,  by  wild  flights  through 
the  brush,  by  cautious  reconnoiters,  by  sudden  sorties 
and  renewals  of  the  battle  which  was  to  end  in  death 
or  victory.  No  wonder  that  memories  of  the  wounds 
and  hazards  of  the  conflict  have  been  implanted  deep 
within  us  and  are  manifested  in  overpowering  fear  of 


36     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

certain  animals,  colors  and  noises,  and  in  sensations 
of  pain  when  we  are  cut  or  struck.  No  wonder  that 
the  fear  and  respect  aroused  by  the  brute  courage  and 
strength,  which  were  acquired  in  the  flesh-to-flesh 
encounter,  survive  to-day  in  the  savage's  acceptance 
of  the  brute  as  a  social  equal ;  in  the  Veda  religions ;  in 
the  ceremonials  of  animal  worship ;  in  some  countries 
in  edicts  against  the  slaughter  of  animals ;  in  the 
ancient  art  which  depicted  man  as  half  man,  half 
beast ;  and  in  many  other  phases  of  ancient  and  modern 
civilization.  The  sense  of  the  close  relationship  of 
man  to  the  brute  world  is  the  essence  of  Totemism, 
that  peculiar  system  of  superstition  by  which  the  Alas- 
kan Indian  proclaims  his  mystic  union  with  ancestral 
groups  of  plants  and  animals. 

Modern  life,  indeed,  abounds  in  evidences  of  the 
"mark  of  the  beast"  and  any  effort  to  reconstruct 
the  story  of  the  past  conflict  leads  to  a  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  the  story  is  still  in  the  telling.  There 
has  been  no  halt  in  the  steady  progress  of  the  fray, 
and  man  is  still  a  changing,  modifiable  organism,  - 
is  still  through  selection  being  adapted  to  surrounding 
nature  by  means  of  the  mechanism  which  secured  to  him 
sustenance  and  safety  in  the  past  and  now  secures 
to  him  safety  from  bacterial,  brute  and  human  menace. 
With  changes  in  environment  have  come  changes  in 
the  conditions  governing  the  contest,  and  correspond- 
ing alterations  in  man's  chief  mechanism  of  adaptation 
-  the  brain.  The  enemy  without  the  clan  has  been 
succeeded  by  the  enemy  within  the  clan,  and  clan 
life  itself,  first  used  as  a  defense,  has  brought  its  own 
quota  of  difficulties  for  the  adjustment  of  which  there 


ADAPTATION   TO   ENVIRONMENT    37 

have  been  evolved  reactions  more  delicate,  more  subtle 
and  more  complex  than  were  needed  in  man's  primitive 
existence.  The  evolved  mechanism  by  which  man 
responds  to  the  new  elements  in  his  environment  by 
processes  of  reason,  invention,  sentiment,  moral  pre- 
cept, laws,  customs  and  social  organization,  may  seem 
vastly  more  " elevated"  and  abstract  than  the  reac- 
tions of  digestion,  locomotion  and  " instinct,"  which 
suffice  for  the  " lower"  orders.  The  mechanism  by 
which  the  more  complex  reactions  are  brought  about, 
however,  is  similar  to  that  which,  in  its  earliest  form 
as  a  group  of  specialized  cells,  coordinated  the  move- 
ments of  the  Amphioxus  for  purposes  of  locomotion 
and  digestion ;  in  a  later  form  as  the  simple  brain 
of  the  struggling  vertebrates,  gave  acuteness  of  sight 
and  fleetness  of  limb  to  the  tree-climbing  species ;  and, 
as  the  brain  of  the  caveman,,  contributed  ability  to 
fashion  and  to  fling  his  arrow  weapons. 

"Mind,"  the  word  we  use  to  express  the  reactions 
of  this  mechanism,  is  no  phenomenon  apart  and  dis- 
tinct from  other  functions  of  the  nervous  system.  In- 
deed, mind,  as  we  find  it  in  the  "lower  walks"  of  life, 
is  not  confined  to  animals.  Many  plants  exhibit  in 
response  to  external  stimuli  protective  reflexes  which 
are  analogous  to  the  nervous  reflexes  of  man.  No- 
table among  these  are  the  drooping  of  the  leaves  of  the 
sensitive  plant  when  it  is  lightly  touched,  and  the 
movements  by  which  ihe  Drosera  and  Venus7  fly- 
trap capture  and  digest  their  prey  when  they  are 
excited  by  the  touch  of  an  insect.  It  appears  that 
sensitiveness  to  stimuli,  which  is  the  first  form  of  mind, 
has  been  distributed  in  organisms,  coincidentally  with 


I 


38     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

mobility.  To  stationary  plants,  except  in  the  case 
of  the  insectivorous  forms,  such  irritability  could  be  of 
little  benefit  to  the  species ;  but  to  the  pursuing  and 
pursued  organisms  it  is  of  great  advantage.  In  his 
treatise  on  climbing  plants  Darwin  remarks  that  it  has 
sometimes  been  asserted  that  plants  are  distinguished 
from  animals  by  their  lack  of  power  of  motion,  and  he 
succinctly  adds  :  "It  should  rather  be  said  that  plants 
acquire  and  display  this  power  only  where  it  is  of  some 
advantage  to  them/' 

The  test  of  utility  may  be  applied  to  internal  proc- 
esses as  well  as  to  external  manifestations  in  custom 
and  social  forms  of  man's  peculiar  mode  of  adaptation 
by  nervous  reactions.  On  this  basis  man's  claim  to 
a  superior  place  among  animals  depends  less  upon 
different  reactions  than  upon  a  greater  number  of  re- 
actions as  compared  with  the  reactions  of  "lower" 
animals.  Ability  to  respond  adaptively  to  more  ele- 
ments in  the  environment  gives  a  larger  dominion, 
that  is  all. 

The  same  measure  applies  within  the  human  species, 
-  the  number  of  nervous  reactions  of  the  artist,  the 
financier,  the  statesman,  the  scientist,  being  invariably 
greater  than  the  reactions  of  the  stolid  savage.  That 
man  alone  of  all  animals  should  have  achieved  the 
degree  of  versatility  sufficient  for  such  advance  is  no 
more  remarkable  than  that  the  elephant  should  have 
evolved  a  larger  trunk  and  tusks  than  the  boar ;  that 
the  legs  of  the  deer  should  be  fleeter  than  those  of  the 
ox ;  that  the  wings  of  the  swallow  should  outfly  those 
of  the  bat.  Each  organism,  in  evolving  the  combina- 
tion of  characters  commensurate  with  safety  in  its 


ADAPTATION   TO   ENVIRONMENT    39 

particular  environment,  has  touched  the  limit  of  both 
its  necessity  and  its  power  to  "  advance."  There  exists 
abundant  and  reliable  evidence  of  the  fact  that  wherever 
man  has  been  subjected^  to  the  stunting  influences  of 
an  unchanging  environment  fairly  favorable  to  life,  he 
has  shown  no  more  disposition  to  progress  than  the  most 
stolid  animals.  Indeed,  he  has  usually  retrograded. 
The  need  to  fight  for  food  and  home  has  been  the 
spur  that  has  ever  driven  man  forward  to  establish  the 
manifold  forms  of  physical  and  mental  life  which  make 
up  human  existence  to-day.  Like  the  simple  adaptive 
mechanisms  of  the  plant,  by  which  it  gets  air,  and  of 
the  animal,  by  which  it  overcomes  its  rivals  in  battle, 
the  supremely  differentiated  functions  of  thought  and 
human  relations  are  the  outcome  of  the  necessity  of 
the  organism  to  become  adapted  to  entities  in  its  en- 
vironment, and  are  best  explained  by  a  study  of  the 
details  of  this  relationship. 


PART   II 

THE   MECHANISMS  OF  ADAPTATION 
RECEPTOR   AND  EFFECTOR 


41 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   NERVOUS   SYSTEM 

ONE  of  the  most  unfortunate  heritages  bequeathed 
to  man  by  the  age-long  conflict  with  brute  creation  is 
an  intellectual  timidity,  a  reluctance  to  look  upon 
natural  phenomena  from  the  point  of  view  that  the 
conditions  of  life  itself  are  the  impelling,  determining 
forces  in  evolution.  Man  is  prone  to  deprecate  natural 
processes  and  appetites  as  base;  to  deplore  the  "utili- 
tarian'7 in  life  and  in  philosophy;  and  to  account  for 
vital  manifestations  on  the  ground  of  an  extraneous 
supernatural  will.  Undoubtedly  this  tendency  is  a 
relic  of  a  long  period  of  bodily  persecution,  of  dread  of 
superior  foes,  during  which,  by  superstitious  worship, 
by  sacrifice  and  by  pretending  to  despise  life,  men 
sought  to  enlist  the  protection  or  to  divert  the  interest 
of  unseen  superiors.  Gait  on  has  shown  that  timidity 
and  lack  of  self-confidence  are  qualities  common  to 
all  animals  of  gregarious  habits,  in  which,  because  of 
their  advantage  to  herd  life,  these  characters  have 
been  developed  and  perpetuated  by  natural  selection. 
He  shows  also  that  these  same  instincts  in  man,  his 
lack  of  independence,  and  his  subservience  to  tradition, 
authority  and  custom  are  the  result  of  enforced 
subjection  to  the  will  of  the  clan,  during  the  long 
period  of  adaptation  through  social  coordination. 

With  the  acceptance  of  the  theory  of  evolution, 
however,  has  fallen  the  last  barrier  to  an  impersonal 

43 


44     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

consideration  of  the  body.  It  is  now  as  reasonable 
to  explain  a  muscular  reflex  or  an  internal  secretion  by 
its  utility  in  the  life  of  the  organism,  as  to  explain  the 
webbed  foot  of  an  amphibian  or  the  teeth  of  a  carnivore 
on  the  same  basis. 

In  like  manner  those  functions  which  have  been 
arbitrarily  classified  as  " physical/'  "mental,"  "moral  " 
and  "social"  have  been  created  by  factors  in  the  envi- 
ronment during  the  struggle  for  existence.  In  order 
to  apply  this  viewpoint  to  the  adaptive  processes  of 
man,  it  is  necessary  to  divest  the  organism  of  all  powers 
of  action  save  that  of  response  to  stimuli,  and  to  regard 
every  vital  manifestation  in  which  man  is  directly  or 
remotely  concerned  as  but  one  phase  of  the  organism's 
adjustment  to  environment  by  means  of  the  transforma- 
tion of  energy  in  response  to  physical  stimuli.  On  this 
basis  a  physiological  process  is  an  evoked  phenomenon, 
dependent  for  its  manifestation  upon  the  impingement 
of  some  specific  form  of  energy  in  the  internal  or  the 
external  environment.  According  to  the  law  of  conser- 
vation, this  transmitted  energy  produces  its  own 
equivalent  in  a  new  form,  which  in  turn  may  affect 
other  forms  and  forces  in  the  environment.  Man  is 
thus  essentially  a  transformer  of  energy  which  is  de- 
rived from  the  environment  and  ultimately  is  re- 
turned to  the  environment. 

The  reactions  which  compose  the  life  of  man  and 
of  other  organisms  are  the  result  of  the  inevitable 
effects  produced  in  a  sensitive  structure  by  an  activating 
environment.  In  other  words,  the  life  processes  of 
any  organism  depend  upon  the  evolved  mechanism  by 
which  it  reacts  "adaptively." 


THE    NERVOUS   SYSTEM  45 

Man's  special  mechanism  of  adaptation  to  environ- 
ment is  his  nervous  system,  which  coordinates  each 
part  of  the  body  with  every  other  part  by  means  of  the 
brain,  the  spinal  cord  and  a  labyrinthian  network  of 
nerve  fibers  and  peripheral  nerve-endings.  Recent 
developments  in  the  sciences  of  biology,  physics, 
chemistry  and  physiology  suggest  that  this  nerve 
mechanism  is  merely  a  highly  specialized  pathway 
for  the  transmission  of  impulses  set  up  by  environ- 
mental stimuli.  In  higher  beings  these  impulses  meet 
and  coordinate,  or  impinge  and  interfere  in  a  central 
organ  of  the  mechanism,  the  brain,  where  schemes 
or  patterns  of  action  are  formed  automatically  accord- 
ing to  the  lines  of  least  resistance  which  have  been 
established  by  the  evolution  of  the  organism  and  the 
species. 

A  Specialized  Pathway  for  Stimuli 

The  response  to  external  stimuli  by  adaptive  reac- 
tion is  not  limited  to  animals  endowed  with  a  nervous 
system,  but  is  common  to  all  living  protoplasm.  For 
example,  unicellular  organisms  respond  to  the  stimuli 
in  their  environment  by  moving  toward  food  and 
away  from  danger,  these  actions  being  paralleled  by 
the  manner  in  which  many  of  the  component  cells  in 
pluricellular  organisms  respond  to  stimuli.  In  the 
intestines  of  certain  animals  the  .cells  throw  out  separate 
prolongations  of  protoplasm  which,  like  the  pseudopodia 
of  amoeba?,  seize  minute  drops  of  fatty  matter  and  draw 
them  within  the  main  body  mass. 

tThus  in  their  search  for  food  and  in  other  activities, 
e  free-living  protozoa  furnish  examples  of  adaptive 


46     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

reactions  essentially  similar  to  the  adaptive  reactions 
of  cells  in  the  bodies  of  multicellular  animals.  A  closer 
parallel,  however,  may  be  seen  in  the  history  of  the 
sexual  elements  during  the  process  of  fertilization. 
The  male  and  female  reproductive  elements  differ  in 
form,  the  ovum  being  usually  spherical,  while  the  sper- 
matozoon is  generally  smaller  and  has  a  rounded 
"head"  and  a  greatly  attenuated  "tail."  A  func- 
tional dissimilarity  corresponds  to  this  difference  in 
form.  The  male  element,  the  spermatozoon,  is  motile, 
and  by  the  lashings  of  its  whiplike  "tail"  is  enabled  to 
approach  the  non-motile  ovum.  In  all  probability 
this  phenomenon  is  in  some  cases  largely  due  to  the 
chemotactic  attraction  of  the  sperm,  though  in  other 
instances  the  spermatozoa  cease  their  swimming  move- 
ments when  they  come  in  contact  with  a  smooth  sur- 
face (stereotropism).  The  behavior  of  the  sperma- 
tozoon is  closely  comparable  with  that  of  many 
protozoa. 

Thus  in  nature  processes  are  repeated  many  times 
and  usually  by  the  same  pattern.  In  the  very  lowest 
forms  of  life  which  are  devoid  of  any  visible  nervous 
system  or  other  specialized  tissue,  are  manifested  re- 
actions, which,  in  the  higher  organisms,  are  effected 
by  the  activities  of  some  specialized  structure,  such 
as  the  central  nervous  system. 

If,  as  we  have  intimated,  this  power  of  adaptive  re- 
sponse is  a  general  function  of  protoplasm  and  if 
"adaptive  responses"  constitute  the  sum  total  of 
"mind"  and  "nervous  reaction,"  we  may  well  ask 
of  what  use  is  a  central  nervous  system  in  the  life  of 
higher  organisms ;  and  whether,  in  organisms  which 


THE   NERVOUS  SYSTEM 


47 


have  this  specialized  structure,  adaptive  response  is 
a  function  of  that  structure  only.  Illumination  on 
this  point  is  found  in  the  experiments  made  by  Loeb 
upon  the  heliotropic  reactions  of  plants  and  animals 
and  on  the  sustained  reflexes  of  animals  whose  central 
nervous  system  has  been  removed.  Loeb  showed  that 
the  phenomenon  of  heliotropism,  that  is,  of  orientation 
with  respect  to  light,  which  in  animals  was  formerly 
attributed  to  a  " psychic"  faculty,  is  essentially  identi- 


From  Loeb's  "  The  Mechanistic  Conception  of  Life." 
FIG.  3. — POSITIVE  HELIOTROPISM  OF  A  MARINE  WORM  (SPIROGRAPHIS)  . 

"The  light  fell  into  the  aquarium  from  one  side  only  and  the  worms  all 
bent  their  heads  toward  the  source  of  light,  as  the  stems  of  positively  helio- 
tropic plants  would  do  under  the  same  conditions." 

cal  in  both  plants  and  animals  and  that  it  occurs  in 
both  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  photochemical 
action.  (Fig.  3.)  The  fact  that  some  animals  ex- 
hibiting this  reaction  have  a  true  central  nervous 
system  while  plants  have  none  is  aside  from  the  prob- 
lem. Other  animals  having  a  diffuse  type  of  nervous 
system,  but  no  central  organ,  also  show  typical 
phototropism  (Crozier). 

If  it  be  true,  as  these  experiments  seemed  to  show, 


48     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

that  a  central  nervous  system  is  not  necessary  for  the 
production  of  coordinated  reflexes  in  an  animal,  then, 
it  was  argued,  it  should  be  possible  to  obtain  the  same 
coordinated  reflex  in  an  animal  whose  central  nervous 
system  had  been  removed,  provided  a  continuous  path- 
way of  protoplasm  could  be  maintained  for  the  con- 
duction of  the  exciting  impulse  from  the  skin  to  the 
muscles.  To  prove  this  point  the  central  nervous 
system  was  excised  from  earthworms  and  from  ascid- 
ians  (Loeb).  Excision  of  the  central  nervous  system 
in  these  animals  did  not  destroy  their  characteristic  re- 
flexes, but  the  crux  of  the  situation  was  disclosed  in  the 
fact  that,  although  the  response  of  the  mutilated  animal 
to  stimulation  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  normal 
animal,  it  required  more  stimulation  to  produce  response 
in  the  former,  and  the  response  was  much  more  retarded 
than  in  the  normal  animal.  In  other  words  the  thresh- 
old of  stimulation  had  been  raised  by  the  destruction 
of  the  specialized  pathway  over  which  the  exciting 
impulse  was  accustomed  to  travel.  The  central 
nervous  system  was  thus  shown  to  be  a  quick  and 
sensitive  conductor  by  means  of  which  the  efficiency 
of  the  whole  mechanism  was  increased.  The  evolu- 
tion of  specialized  tissue  is  responsible  for  the  attain- 
ment of  efficiency,  for  as  we  ascend  the  animal  scale 
we  find  that  pari  passu  with  the  increasing  differ- 
entiation and  development  of  certain  tissues,  the 
environment  dominated  by  the  organism  is  widened. 
Thus  as  we  progress  from  the  simple  protozoon 
to  the  complex  pluricellular  organism  we  find  evolved 
progressively  more  effectual  organs  of  locomotion  and 
special  sense ;  more  complicated  systems  of  nutrition, 


THE   NERVOUS   SYSTEM  49 

of  circulation,  of  respiration,  of  propagation,  all  coor- 
dinated and  controlled  by  a  correspondingly  increased 
mass  of  nervous  tissue  —  which  finds  its  highest 
development  in  a  brain,  wherein  each  kind  of  impulse 
forms  its  own  pattern,  the  stimulation  of  which  results 
in  a  specific  reaction  of  the  organism,  these  resultant 
reactions  varying  from  the  simplest  motor  response 
to  the  most  complex  process  of  "reason." 

The  age-long  process  by  which  evolution  develops 
complex  from  simple  mechanisms  is  strikingly  illus- 
trated by  the  embryology  of  the  individual.  In  the 
development  of  the  adult  from  the  ovum  there  is  repro- 
duced in  brief  the  evolution  of  the  higher  organism 
from  the  single  cell.  In  the  early  human  embryo 
appears  the  first  rudiment  of  a  nervous  system  which 
is  of  the  same  form  as  that  found  in  larval  Astidians,  - 
namely,  a  series  of  ganglion  cells  which  coordinate  re- 
flexes for  separate  segments  of  the  body.  Together 
with  the  simultaneous  development  of  the  whole 
embryo  there  develops  a  spinal  tube  like  that  which  is 
found  in  the  Amphioxus,  the  lowest  of  chor dates. 
At  a  later  period,  a  brain  develops  by  the  enlargement 
of  the  anterior  extremity  of  this  spinal  cord.  At  first 
this  brain  is  of  simple  structure,  like  the  brain  of  the 
lowest  forms  of  fish.  Gradually  this  simple  brain 
develops  into  the  more  highly  differentiated  human 
brain  passing  consecutively  through  stages  which 
in  general  represent  the  brains  of  the  lower  animal 
types  through  which  man  was  evolved.  (Fig.  4.) 

The  evidence  strongly  supports  the  belief  that  it 

is  by  no  quality  exclusive  to  itself  and  alien  to  other 
3rotoplasm  that  the  nervous  system  performs  its  special 
• 


50    MAN  — AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


From  Haeckel's  "  Evolution  of  Man." 

FIG.  4.  —  COMPARISON  OF  THE  EMBRYOS  OF  MAN  AND  OTHER  VERTEBRATES. 

These  pictures  are  meant  to  represent  the  more  or  less  complete  agreement, 
as  regards  the  most  important  relations  of  form,  between  the  embryo  of  Man 
and  the  embryos  of  other  Vertebrates  in  early  stages  of  individual  develop- 
ment. This  agreement  is  the  more  complete,  the  earlier  the  period  at  which 
the  human  embryo  is  compared  with  the  embryos  of  other  Vertebrates.  It 
is  retained  longer,  the  more  nearly  related  in  descent  the  respective  matured 
animals  are  —  corresponding  to  the  "law  of  the  ontogenetic  connection  of 
systematically  related  forms."  .  .  . 

"The  first,  or  upper  cross-row,  I,  represents  a  very  early  stage,  with  gill- 
openings,  and  without  limbs.  The  second  (middle)  cross-row,  II,  shows  a 
somewhat  later  stage,  with  the  first  rudiments  of  limbs,  while  the  gill- 
openings  are  yet  retained.  The  third  (lowest)  cross-row,  III,  shows  a  still 
later  stage,  with  the  limbs  more  developed  and  the  gill-openings  lost.  The 
membranes  and  appendages  of  the  embryonic  body  (the  amnion,  yelk-sac, 
allantois)  are  omitted.  The  whole  twenty-four  figures  are  slightly  magnified, 
the  upper  ones  more  than  the  lower.  To  facilitate  the  comparison,  they  are 
all  reduced  to  nearly  the  same  size  in  the  cuts.  All  the  embryos  are  seen 
from  the  left  side ;  the  head  extremity  is  above,  the  tail  extremity  below ; 
the  arched  back  turned  to  the  right.  The  letters  indicate  the  same  parts 
in  all  the  twenty-four  figures,  namely  :  v,  fore-brain  ;  zz,  twixt-brain  ;  m,  mid- 
brain  ;  h,  hind-brain  ;  n,  after-brain  ;  r,  spinal  marrow ;  e,  nose  ;  a,  eye ; 
o,  ear ;  k,  gill-arches ;  g,  heart ;  w,  vertebral  column ;  /,  fore-limbs ; 
6,  hind-limbs ;  s,  tail."  ^ 


THE   NERVOUS   SYSTEM  51 

function  of  coordinating  body  processes.  Through 
evolution  the  nervous  system  has  acquired  certain 
specific  qualities,  which  are,  for  nerve  fibers,  that  of 
facilitating  the  conduction  of  impulses ;  for  nerve  cells, 
that  of  holding  energy  which  may  be  released  by  nerve 
impulses  for  adaptive  ends;  and  for  certain,  as  yet 
unknown,  portions  of  nerve  tissue,  that  of  being 
permanently  modified  by  each  adequate  stimulus,  so 
that  the  reactions  to  successive  stimuli  of  the  same 
kind  vary  in  intensity. 

The  reactions  of  a  given  animal  or  species  are  gov- 
erned by  the  nervous  mechanisms  it  has  evolved,  — 
by  the  forces  to  which  its  nervous  system  has  been 
attuned.  In  other  words,  the  complex  organism  differs 
from  the  simple  only  in  the  number  of  its  reacting 
units  and  their  attunement.  It  would  seem,  there- 
fore, that  the  manifold  reactions  of  man  differ  only  in 
number  and  complexity,  but  not  in  principle,  from  the 
simple  adaptive  reactions  of  Venus'  fly-trap  in  catching 
and  digesting  its  insect  food. 

The  Typical  Adaptive  Reaction 

Venus'  fly-trap,  which  is  found  in  the  damp,  infertile 
regions  of  North  Carolina,  possesses  .one  of  the  most 
remarkable  adaptive  mechanisms  in  nature.  Dar- 
win has  given  a  graphic  description  of  this  plant  in 
his  volume  on  " Insectivorous  Plants."  Its  body  is 
composed  of  two  plump  leaf  lobes,  set  nearly  at  right 
angles  to  each  other,  like  the  pages  of  a  book  held 
partly  open,  each  lobe  being  fringed  on  the  outer  edge 
by  a  single  row  of  sharp  thorn  spikes,  which  interlock 
like  the  gates  of  a  prison  behind  the  unfortunate  insect 


52     MAN  — AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

which  chances  to  alight  upon  the  surface  of  the  leaf, 
or  even  to  brush  lightly  against  one  of  three  tiny,  hair- 
like  filaments  which  project  upright  from  the  surface  of 
each  lobe,  are  about  one  twentieth  of  an  inch  in  length, 
and  form  the  receptor  mechanism  by  which  the  plant 
is  warned  of  the  presence  of  its  live  prey.  (Fig.  5.) 

The  moment  a  small  insect  touches  one  of  these 
exquisitely  sensitive  filaments,  the  two  lobes  come 
together  quickly,  the  marginal  spikes  interlocking, 
first  at  their  tips,  then  down  their  entire  lengths,  while 
the  edges  curve  inward  to  form  a  shallow  miniature 
stomach,  which  begins  at  once  to  secrete  digestive 
fluid  if  the  object  caught  contains  animal  matter.  If 
that  object  proves  to  be  not  of  animal  nature, 
but  a  bit  of  wood,  of  cord,  of  paper,  or  of  other  non- 
nitrogenous  substance,  the  lobes  will  reopen  within 
twenty-four  hours,  and  it  may  be  seen  that  no  digestive 
fluid  has  been  secreted.  On  the  other  hand,  if  a 
piece  of  gelatine,  of  cooked  or  raw  meat  or  of  albumin 
be  substituted  for  the  live  insect,  provided  it  weighs 
about  the  same  as  the  usual  insect  prey,  the  lobes  will 
close  quickly,  the  digestive  glands  will  become  active 
and  the  process  of  digestion  and  assimilation  will  pro- 
ceed in  the  normal  manner.  In  this  case,  as  when 
real  insects  are  caught,  the  leaves  remain  closed  for 
many  days.  If  the  filaments  be  struck  forcibly  by 
a  needle  or  other  hard  object,  no  reaction  will  take 
place.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  filaments  be  touched 
lightly,  so  that  the  touch  of  an  insect's  foot  is  fairly 
well  imitated,  the  lobes  will  close.  Any  touch  either 
lighter  or  heavier  than  that  of  an  insect  invariably 
fails  to  elicit  a  response. 


THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM 


53 


Drawing  by  Wm.  J.  Brownlow. 

FIG.  5.  —  VENUS'  FLY-TRAP  (Dioncea  muscipuld)  (Linnaeus) . 

A.  Plant  and  blossom. 

B,  Detail,  lateral  view  of  expanded  leaf. 


54     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Venus'  fly-trap  thus  evinces  just  as  much  power 
of  perception  and  discrimination  as  is  shown  by  the 
amoeba;  indeed,  almost  as  much  as  is  exhibited  by 
many  highly  differentiated  organisms,  such  as  the 
frog,  for  example.  The  fly-trap  catches  flies,  eats 
and  digests  them  and  ejects  the  refuse.  The  frog 
does  the  same,  responding  to  the  adequate  stimulus 
of  the  sight  of  a  fly  as  the  fly-trap  responds  to  its 
touch.  Both  the  frog  and  the  fly-trap  catch  insects 
by  comparable  motor  mechanisms.  Each  depends  on 
an  adequate  stimulus  for  the  excitation  of  the  mechan- 
ism as  a  result  of  which  stored  energy  is  set  free  to  be 
manifested  in  the  fly-catching  reflex.  Each  then  di- 
gests and  assimilates  the  caught  insect  and  when  hun- 
gry catches  another  insect. 

If  the  reactions  of  the  human  organism  be  reduced 
to  their  simplest  terms,  probably  none  will  be  found 
more  intricate  than  this  food-catching  reaction  of 
Venus'  fly-trap  and  the  frog.  The  principal  difference 
between  these  three  living  mechanisms  is  rather  a  differ- 
ence in  the  range  of  activation  by  environment,  resulting 
in  the  frog  and  in  man  in  a  larger  number  of  reactions 
which  in  turn  involve  more  complex  effector  mech- 
anisms than  are  possessed  by  the  fly-trap.  Each  reac- 
tion of  man  doubtless  has  more  component  parts  than 
each  reaction  of  Venus'  fly-trap,  just  as  a  large 
house  contains  more  bricks  than  a  small  house.  The 
most  complex  machine  ever  invented  by  man  looks 
like  a  grotesque  monster  to  the  savage ;  yet  its  com- 
plex movements  are  compounded  of  the  two  simple 
movements  of  translation  and  rotation. 


THE   NERVOUS   SYSTEM  55 

Three  Stages  of  the  Typical  Reaction 

Analysis  of  the  reaction  of  Venus'  fly-trap  shows 
that  there  are  three  distinct  stages  in  the  process : 
the  adequate  stimulus,  supplied  from  without  by  the 
insect  touch  ;  the  process  of  conduction  of  the  stimulus 
from  the  tip  of  the  filament  to  the  effector  motor 
mechanism  of  the  plant,  performed  in  this  case  by  a 
chain  of  tissue  cells  which  in  a  certain  sense  resembles 
the  specialized  nerve  paths  of  man;  and  finally,  the 
chemical  and  motor  end  effect,  involving  all  the  acts 
and  organs  used  in  the  closing  of  the  lobes  and  the 
killing  and  digestion  of  the  insect. 

We  have  seen  that  the  presence  of  the  insect  stimulus 
is  necessary  to  excite  the  closing  of  the  lobes,  and 
furthermore,  that  it  must  be  a  specific  or  adequate 
stimulus.  A  touch,  lighter  or  heavier  than  that  of 
the  insect,  does  not  stimulate.  Only  the  stimulus 
which  throughout  evolution  has  led  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  responsive  mechanism  in  the  plant  can 
now  activate  that  mechanism.  Conversely,  as  soon 
as  the  appropriate  force  is  applied,  the  characteristic 
reaction  takes  place,  and  will  go  on  taking  place  as 
long  as  there  is  sufficient  energy  available  in  the  plant. 
These  observations  agree  with  those  recorded  by  Bose 
in  "  Response  in  the  Living  and  Non-Living, "  and 
"  Comparative  Electro-Physiology."  Bose  shows  that 
a  wide  variety  of  plants  exhibit,  under  stimulation, 
phenomena  which  are  identical  with  those  generally 
supposed  to  be  characteristic  of  animal  tissues  only; 
namely,  fatigue  under  often  repeated  stimulation ;  the 
tendency  to  exaltation  of  the  response  during  the  early 


56     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

repetitions  of  the  stimulation  ;  the  lowering  of  response 
by  depressants;  and  the  abolition  of  response  by 
poisons.  In  our  own  laboratory  we  have  by  experi- 
ment shown  that  the  energy  of  Venus'  fly-trap,  like 
that  of  man,  can  be  exhausted  by  repeated  stimulation  ; 
that,  as  in  man,  its  energy  may  be  restored  by  rest ; 
and  that  it  may  be  anesthetized  by  the  agents  used  in 
anesthetizing  man. 

'  In  the  three  separate  stages  of  adequate  stimulus, 
conduction  and  end  effect  which  compose  the  reaction 
of  Venus'  fly-trap,  we  find  all  the  essential  factors 
which  enter  into  the  life  activities  of  man.  Under 
adequate  stimulus,  for  instance,  are  included  the  ac- 
tivating stimuli  produced  by  heat  and  cold,  dust, 
debris,  microorganisms,  food,  air,  water,  light,  poisons, 
blows,  —  by  certain  physical  and  chemical  changes 
within  and  without  the  body,  to  which  man  through 
evolution  has  become  "  adapted  "  through  the  creation 
of  an  adaptive  response.  Conduction  is  supplied  by  the 
central  and  autonomic  nervous  systems,  that  is,  by  the 
organs  of  touch,  taste,  sight,  smell,  hearing,  pain 
and  by  the  chemical  receptors  for  the  initiation  of  cer- 
tain reactions  of  chemical  control.  End  effects  are 
found  in  all  the  vital  processes  of  motion  and  emotion, 
muscular  activity,  chemical  change,  psychic  states, 
growth,  nutrition,  reproduction,  thought,  invention, 
social  forms,  government,  war,  religion,  business,  - 
in  short,  in  all  the  activities  by  which  man's  life  is 
distinguished  from  the  immobility  of  the  rock.  In 
other  words,  magnification  of  the  typical  motor  and 
chemical  response  of  the  sensitive  plant  gives  us  a 
concrete  illustration  of  the  premise  stated  above,  that 


THE   NERVOUS   SYSTEM  57 

all  life  processes  result  from  the  immersion  of  a  sensi- 
tive structure  in  an  activating  environment.  Ade- 
quate stimulus  represents  the  environment ;  conduc- 
tion represents  the  mechanism  of  communication  ;  and 
end  effect  represents  life  itself  in  all  its  manifold  ex- 
pression. 

The  production  of  a  simple  adaptive  motor  act  in 
response  to  an  external  physical  stimulus  is  a  reflex. 
The  combined  processes  represented  by  adequate 
stimulus,  conduction  and  end  effect  are  known  as  reflex 
arcs.  There  are  many  such  reflex  arcs  in  the  organism, 
which  can  be  easily  differentiated  into  their  component 
parts  —  reception,  conduction  and  end  effect.  Such 
reflexes  are  the  contraction  of  the  iris  in  response  to 
light,  and  the  winking  of  the  eyelid  in  response  to 
excitation  of  the  conjunctiva.  There  are  other  reflex 
arcs,  however,  which,  according  to  our  conception,  are 
built  on  the  same  plan,  but  whose  component  parts 
it  is  far  from  easy  to  determine.  It  is  not  easy,  for 
instance,  to  define  the  specific,  visible  physical  agents 
in  the  external  environment  which  are  responsible  for 
the  reflex  actions  manifested  by  a  benevolent  deed,  by 
an  artistic  production,  or  by  an  intellectual  process, 
even  though  we  know,  in  a  general  way,  that  by 
natural  selection  the  structures  which  manifest  these 
responses  have  been  developed  as  those  best  fitted  to 
survive.  Equally  difficult  is  it  to  identify  the  forces 
which  are  responsible  for  the  development  of  the  intri- 
cate and  obscure  processes  of  metabolism,  of  respira- 
tion, of  heart  beat,  of  immunity  or  of  reproduction. 


58     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Action  Patterns 

Somewhere  in  the  tissues  of  Venus'  fly-trap  and  of 
other  organisms  having  reflex  arcs  there  exists  a  tend- 
ency always  to  produce  the  same  response  to  a  given 
stimulus,  that  response  being  achieved  by  means  of  a 
mechanism  acquired  for  its  performance  by  natural  se- 
lection. This  mechanism  may  be  described  as  a  scheme 
or  pattern  of  action,  a  pattern  specific  to  that  organism 
and  possible  of  excitation  only  by  that  stimulus  which 
gave  rise  through  selection'  to  the  mechanism  itself. 
Upon  the  number  of  his  " action  patterns"  and  the 
responses  which  are  elicited  by  their  excitation  depend 
the  life  processes  of  the  individual  organism  —  whether 
man  or  lower  animal.  The  exact  nature  of  the  motor 
or  action  pattern  we  are  not  prepared  to  discuss. 
For  the  present  it  is  sufficient  to  state  our  belief  that 
every  adaptive  reaction  corresponds  to  the  plan  of 
the  muscular  reflex  —  occurring  automatically  in  re- 
sponse to  a  primary  excitation  from  without  and 
being  accompanied  by  a  discharge  of  potential  energy 
which  may  be  measured  by  the  depleted  vitality  of  the 
organism.  We  consider  also  that  every  adaptive 
reaction  is  expressed  in  heat  or  motion  in  whatever 
form  is  of  use  to  the  individual. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  presence  of  the  adequate  stimu- 
lus is  the  first  requisite  for  reaction.  As  the  lobes 
of  the  fly-catching  plant  close  only  upon  the  arrival 
of  the  insect  stimulus,  so  every  conceivable  act,  thought 
or  function  of  the  human  body  requires  an  adequate 
stimulus  for  its  manifestation,  that  manifestation  de- 
pending absolutely  upon  the  previous  experience  of 


THE   NERVOUS   SYSTEM  59 

the  organism  or  of  its  species  with  that  stimulus.  That 
is,  the  response  to  any  stimulus  depends  wholly 
upon  the  biologic  necessity  which  led  to  its  evolution. 
The  response  to  a  sharp  blow  by  pain  and  retreat 
from  the  offending  point ;  the  response  to  an  insect- 
like  tickle  by  the  desire  to  scratch;  the  response 
to  a  soft  caressing  contact  by  pleasure  and  approach, 
are  all  specific  to  the  species  and  the  self-protective 
necessities  as  a  result  of  which  they  were  evolved  in  the 
organism.  Similarly,  the  more  obscure  and  delicate 
responses  of  thought  and  sentiment,  of  "study,"  "in- 
vention," "ambition,"  "industry,"  "joy,"  "sadness," 
"remorse,"  are  all  dependent  upon  specific  stimuli  in  the 
environment  and  are  specific  to  one  or  another  of  the 
biologic  purposes  of  self-preservation,  nutrition  or  pro- 
creation. That  is,  according  to  its  phylogeny  and  its 
ontogeny,  the  life  of  any  being  may  be  complete^ 
defined  in  its  action  patterns.  Conversely,  given  its 
action  patterns,  we  should  be  able  to  predict  the  future 
action  of  any  individual  in  response  to  any  stimulus. 

Action  patterns,  as  may  be  seen,  are  synonymous  with 
"associative  memory,"  with  "mind,"  with  "intelli-  -f 
gence,"  with  "individuality."  The  single  action  pat- 
tern of  Venus'  fly-trap  makes  up  its  limited  life 
and  constitutes  all  it  has  of  "mind."  The  larger 
number  of  action  patterns  in  the  more  worldly  experi- 
enced frog  constitute  its  life  and  its  correspondingly 
limited  "mind."  The  multitudinous  action  patterns 
of  man,  representing  every  phase  and  degree  of  animal 
existence,  constitute  man's  life  and  man's  "mind." 
Life  epitomized  thus  as  the  result  of  a  structure  played 
upon  by  the  environment  may  well  be  compared,  as 


60     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

poets  have  often  compared  it,  to  a  splendid  symphony 
composed  of  notes  to  which  the  strings  of  the  human 
instrument  have  become  attuned  and  to  which  they 
respond  when  stimulated  by  the  surrounding  environ- 
mental forces. 

The  Principle  of  the  Final  Common  Path 

According  to  Sherrington  the  organism  of  man  is 
integrated  to  respond  as  a  whole  to  any  adequate  stim- 
ulus, this  integration  being  accomplished  mainly  by  the 
nervous  system  through  the  medium  of  the  brain.  The 
brain  responds  to  but  one  stimulus  at  a  time,  although 
it  acts  with  such  rapidity  and  with  such  capacity  for 
kaleidoscopic  changes  that  it  seems  to  be  performing 
a  number  of  acts  simultaneously.  That  stimulus 
which  secures  possession  of  the  brain  over  all  other 
stimuli  which  are  simultaneously  striving  for  entrance 
is  said  to  possess  the  final  common  path  —  an  expres- 
sion introduced  by  Sherrington.  The  final  common 
path  is  always  the  path  of  action.  Could  every  ceptor 
of  the  body  be  stimulated  simultaneously,  the  brain, 
hence  the  body,  would  respond  to  but  one  stimulus, 
that  being  the  one  which  has  proven  most  important 
to  the  survival  of  the  race.  Could  every  ceptor  of  the 
body  be  equally  and  simultaneously  stimulated,  —  that 
is,  with  the  same  (phylogenetic)  force,  —  there  would 
be  no  action.  Could  the  pain  ceptors  of  an  animal  be 
equally  and  simultaneously  stimulated,  there  would  be 
no  pain.  The  attempt  of  the  brain  to  discharge  en- 
ergy in  response  to  one  stimulus  would  be  balanced  by 
the  other  stimuli  and  inaction  would  result,  or  even 
death  might  occur.  If  the  body  were  immersed  in. 


THE   NERVOUS   SYSTEM  61 

great  heat,  for  example,  the  body  proteins  would  coagu- 
late, but  death  would  be  painless. 

In  taking  possession  of  the  final  common  path, 
stimuli  observe  a  definite  order  of  succession.  The 
stimulus  which  secures  possession  of  the  final  common 
path  at  any  moment  is  always  the  stimulus  which 
phylogenetically  is  the  most  important.  For  example, 
stimuli  threatening  death  or  fatal  injury  will  take 
precedence  over  stimuli  presaging  slight  physical 
discomfort  or  the  acquirement  of  food.  Thus,  in  the 
simultaneous  arrival  of  a  flea  bite  and  a  heavy  blow 
a  man  would  be  unconscious  of  the  bite  and  would 
feel  only  the  blow.  Moreover,  a  physically  or  phylo- 
genetically less  intense  stimulus  already  in  possession 
of  the  final  common  path  can  at  any  time  be  dis- 
possessed by  a  stronger  stimulus  or  one  of  more  phylo- 
genetic  importance.  Thus,  an  animal  in  enjoyment 
of  its  food,  or  a  hunter  in  search  of  small  and  harmless 
game,  would  each  drop  his  occupation  and  flee  in  terror 
at  the  sudden  apparition  of  a  powerful  advancing 
enemy.  Thus,  the  schoolboy  may  have  his  desire 
for  learning  dispossessed  by  a  pin  prick  administered 
by  a  neighbor;  but  if  the  schoolhouse  were  to  catch 
on  fire,  the  pin  prick  would  be  unnoticed  and  primitive 
fear  would  assume  control  of  his  motor  mechanism. 

The  Threshold 

The  order  of  precedence  of  stimuli  is,  to  a  large 
extent,  determined  by  what  is  known  as  the  threshold, 
or  the  amount  of  resistance  which  each  stimulus  has 
to  overcome  before  it  excites  action.  Each  incoming 
impulse,  somewhere  in  its  path  to  the  brain  cell,  or 


62     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

just  beyond,  encounters  this  resistance  to  its  passage, 
which  varies  in  degree  for  every  impulse,  as  well  as  for 
the  same  impulse  from  day  to  day,  from  year  to  year, 
from  experience  to  experience.  When  resistance  to 
the  incoming  impulse  is  great,  the  threshold  is  said  to 
be  "high" ;  when  it  is  small,  the  threshold  is  said  to 
be  "low/'  Repeated  response  to  any  stimulus  lowers 
the  threshold  to  that  stimulus.  The  conditions  which 
govern  the  threshold  are  of  material  importance  to  the 
individual.  On  the  state  of  his  thresholds  to  various 
stimuli  depend  a  man's  capacity  for  education,  his 
habits  and  conduct. 

The  threshold  is  responsible  for  the  fact  that  no 
more  than  the  required  energy  is  discharged  in  the 
consummation  of  a  given  act,  as  it  is  also  for  the 
condition  which  makes  it  possible  for  an  individual  to 
profit  as  well  as  to  suffer  by  past  experience. 

Summation 

The  result  of  any  given  stimulus  depends  upon 
both  the  height  of  the  threshold  and  the  intensity  of 
the  stimulus.  Response  may  also  be  hastened  and 
intensified  by  repeating  the  stimuli  at  sufficiently 
short  intervals  of  time  to  produce  a  cumulative  effect. 
This  is  summation.  In  the  conversion  of  energy  for 
adaptive  purposes  the  principle  of  summation  plays  an 
important  role.  If  drops  of  water  are  allowed  to  fall 
upon  the  skin  at  such  a  rate  that  the  effect  of  the 
stimulus  of  one  drop  has  not  passed  before  another 
drop  falls  in  precisely  the  same  spot,  there  will  be  a 
gradually  increasing  sensation  in  that  spot,  rising  finally 
to  an  unbearable  degree  of  pain.  The  threshold  to 


THE   NERVOUS   SYSTEM  63 

the  stimulus  is  progressively  lowered  by  each  succeed- 
ing application,  and  the  facility  of  energy  discharge 
is  correspondingly  increased  until  a  period  of  maximum 
discharge  is  reached.  Another  example  of  summation 
is  the  increasing  sensitiveness  to  pain  felt  by  a  patient, 
who  for  a  long  time  has  had  to  submit  to  frequent  pain- 
ful wound  dressings. 

In  a  larger  sense,  the  behavior  of  the  individual 
illustrates  summation.  The  facility  with  which  energy 
is  discharged  in  response  to  any  stimulus  is  the  result 
of  the  evolution  of  the  responding  mechanism  through 
natural  selection  (phylogeny) ;  and  of  the  individual's 
own  past  life  (ontogeny).  Moral  as  well  as  physical 
efficiency  may  justly  be  regarded  as  the  result  of 
summation.  In  the  training  of  athletes,  where  su- 
perior strength  of  certain  sets  of  muscles  is  desired,  ef- 
ficiency is  the  result  of  the  repetition  of  exercises  which 
involve  muscular  action  —  activation  of  certain  action 
patterns  —  at  such  intervals  that  the  upbuilding  effect 
of  one  action  is  not  lost  before  a  new  exercise  is  given. 
Thus  a  gradual  ascent  to  the  maximum  efficiency  is 
realized.  The  principle  of  summation  plays  a  similar 
important  role  in  the  production  of  certain  pathologic 
phenomena,  a  progressively  lowered  threshold  being 
largely  responsible,  for  example,  for  such  conditions  as 
neurasthenia  and  mania. 

An  understanding  of  the  mode  of  action  of  adequate 
stimulus,  final  common  path,  threshold  and  summation, 
upon  which  are  constructed  the  action  patterns  which 
constitute  man's  motor  adaptation  to  environment, 
assists  in  making  more  clear  much  that  seems  complex 
and  confusing  in  human  action. 


64    MAN  — AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Individuality  and  Action  Patterns 

Up  to  a  certain  point  the  activating  environment  of 
most  motor  beings  is  the  same,  and  to  that  extent  their 
structure,  their  "life,"  their  action  patterns  (response 
to  identical  stimuli),  are  the  same.  Animals,  for  in- 
stance, breathe  the  same  air,  eat  approximately  the 
same  food,  suffer  from  the  same  microorganic  inva- 
sions, are  influenced  by  the  same  elements  of  climate. 
It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  to  find  them  exhibiting 
the  same  general  details  of  structure  for  respiration, 
circulation,  digestion,  reproduction;  the  same  organs 
of  secretion  and  elimination ;  of  taste,  smell,  sight  and 
hearing;  the  same  quality  of  epithelial  covering  for 
internal  organs ;  and  the  same  chemical  reactions  in 
response  to  foreign  proteins  and  inorganic  substances 
in  the  body.  These  common  structures,  responding 
identically  to  identical  stimuli,  represent  the  extent 
to  which  self-preservation  and  species  preservation  de- 
pend upon  the  same  elements.  Variations  in  structure 
correspond  to  variations  in  the  activating  environment, 
the  most  important  structural  changes  being  the  result 
of  the  requirements  for  survival  in  the  conflict  with 
other  organisms. 

In  like  manner  it  is  as  a  result  of  the  environmental 
stimuli  in  human  relations  that  the  action  patterns  of 
man  have  come  to  differ  from  those  of  other  more  closely 
allied  animals,  that  difference  being  most  plainly 
marked  in  a  more  highly  evolved  brain  and  central 
nervous  system,  in  which  are  held  the  patterns  for 
vast  numbers  of  complex  self-preservative  actions  un- 
known to  other  animals. 


THE   NERVOUS   SYSTEM  65 

The  action  patterns  of  each  species  definitely  repre- 
sent the  processes  employed  by  that  species  for  self- 
perpetuation  —  that  is,  for  adequate  defense  against 
enemies,  for  securing  food  and  for  procreation.  The 
action  patterns  of  a  turtle,  a  cobra,  a  sparrow,  a  fish  or 
a  man  are  specific  for  each  of  those  animals,  and  would 
be  useless  if  transferred  from  one  to  another  species. 
The  action  patterns  of  a  lion  would  not  do  for  a  deer, 
nor  the  patterns  of  a  hawk  for  a  chicken,  and  were  the 
crossing  of  such  phylogenetically  alien  species  possible, 
confusion  would  be  the  fate  of  the  unfortunate  offspring, 
endowed  with  the  action  patterns  of  each  parent. 
In  the  case  of  the  offspring  of  a  deer  and  a  lion,  for 
example,  the  hybrid  would  be  compelled  to  experience 
toward  every  animal  a  simultaneous  desire  to  attack 
and  to  flee. 

The  same  external  agency  in  an  environment  com- 
mon to  several  organisms  may  excite  vastly  different 
action  patterns  in  the  different  brains  which  it  stimu- 
lates. Thus,  if  the  image  of  a  hawk  were  to  fall 
simultaneously  upon  the  retinas  of  a  chicken,  a  cow 
and  a  boy,  there  would  be  created  three  separate 
action  patterns  specific  to  the  phylogenetic  experi- 
ences of  these  different  individuals.  The  chicken, 
because  chickens  have  ever  been  preyed  upon  by  hawks, 
and  only  those  which  flew  and  flew  quickly  at  the 
approach  of  one  have  survived,  will  be  activated  to 
flight,  not  because  of  any  power  to  " reason"  about 
it,  but  because  natural  selection  has  eliminated  all 
chickens  which  have  not  automatically  fled  at  the 
sight  of  a  hawk.  The  cow,  on  the  contrary,  since  hawks 
have  exerted  no  selective  influence  on  it  or  its  species 


66     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

through  the  ages,  will  be  neutral  and  unmoved ;  while 
the  boy,  according  to  his  phylogenetic  and  ontogenetic 
experience,  either  will  idly  watch  the  hawk  or  will  tiy 
to  shoot  it. 

Within  the  species,  the  experience  of  the  family  and 
of  the  clan  takes  the  place  of  the  experience  of  the 
race  in  evolving  through  selection  more  obvious  minor 
structural  and  functional  differences  of  manner  and 
habit,  color,  facial  expression,  bearing,  etc.,  which 
distinguish  one  group  from  another.  The  experi- 
ence of  the  individual,  in  turn,  will  accentuate,  neu- 
tralize or  eliminate  given  family  tendencies  and  estab- 
lish new  thresholds  and  action  patterns,  according  to 
the  old,  the  absent  or  the  new  stimuli  encountered  in 
his  environment. 

The  extent  to  which  the  principle  of  action  patterns 
and  of  the  automatic  specific  interaction  of  stimulus 
and  response  helps  in  the  interpretation  of  physiological 
processes  will  appear  as  our  material  develops  and  some 
of  the  more  obvious  specific  responses  are  demonstrated. 


CHAPTER  III 

ADAPTATION  BY  MEANS   OF  CONTACT  CEPTORS 

The  Receptor  Organs 

IN  the  foregoing  chapter  we  stated  our  viewpoint 
that  the  nervous  system  of  man,  like  other  organic 
structures,  is  the  product  of  the  selective  adaptation 
of  the  organism  to  its  environment;  and  that  the 
nervous  system  acts  as  a  conducting  mechanism  for  the 
specific  energies  or  stimuli  of  the  environment  which 
evoke  the  adaptive  reactions  of  the  organism.  For  the 
reception  and  transmission  of  environmental  stimuli 
receptor  organs  have  been  evolved.  A  study  of  the 
distribution  and  relative  activities  of  these  mechanisms 
epitomizes  the  story  "of  the  adaptation  of  the  whole 
organism.  In  that  of  man  and  of  all  other  multi- 
cellular  organisms  there  are  presented  to  the  en- 
vironment two  fields  of  contact  in  which  receptor 
organs  are  implanted:  an  outer  surface  of  skin 
and  mucous  membranes,  which  are  exposed  to  every 
vicissitude  of  climate  and  contact,  and  inner  organs 
and  connective  tissue,  which  are  partially  screened 
from  the  outer  environment,  but  are  subject  to  a  vari- 
ety of  physical  and  chemical  changes  within  the  or- 
ganism itself,  these  changes,  however,  being  primarily 
induced  by  the  larger  reactions  initiated  by  the  cep- 
tors  of  the  outer  surface.  Imbedded  in  the  cellular 

67 


68     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

masses  of  both  the  inner  and  the  outer  body  surfaces 
are  numerous  nerve  endings,  adapted  to  the  reception 
of  specific  stimuli. 

These  specialized  nerve  endings  are  classified  as 
contact,  distance  and  chemical  ceptors,  according  to  their 
distribution  and  the  means  by  which  each  elicits  its 
own  specific  response  in  the  organism.  Contact  ceptors 
are  distributed  throughout  the  surface  layers  of  skin 
and  mucous  membranes  and  apprehend  all  bene  and 
nod  impulses  contributed  by  direct  physical  impacts, 
such  as  the  impacts  of  stones,  dust,  debris,  external 
heat  and  cold,  wind  and  water,  food,  stings  of  insects, 
mechanical  injuries  and  irritations  of  all  sorts.  In- 
cluded among  the  contact  ceptors  are  the  touch  ceptors ; 
the  specific  ceptors  which  initiate  sneezing,  coughing, 
winking,  swallowing,  vomiting,  hiccoughing,  peristalsis, 
evacuation  of  the  urinary  bladder,  of  the  gall  bladder 
and  ducts,  of  the  uterus  and  tubes,  of  the  kidney,  of  the 
rectum ;  and  those  ceptors  which  are  concerned  in  many 
other  protective  reflexes  throughout  the  body.  Stimu- 
lation of  the  contact  ceptors  results  in  a  quick  discharge 
of  energy  for  local  motor  acts,  and  are  of  special  use  in 
guiding  the  animal  away  from  injurious  contacts  that 
threaten  his  well-being,  and  toward  beneficial  contacts 
that  result  in  nutrition  and  procreation.  Were  the 
animal  deprived  of  his  contact  ceptors,  his  vital  proc- 
esses might  be  carried  on  by  means  of  his  distance  and 
chemical  ceptors,  but  paralysis  of  the  motor  acts  of 
ingestion  and  elimination  would  soon  result  in  death  by 
starvation,  or  by  poisoning  from  deleterious  unejected 
waste  matter. 

The  distance  ceptors  are  concerned  principally  with 


CONTACT   CEPTORS  69 

the  apprehension  of  objects  in  the  distant  environment 
and  the  orientation  of  the  animal  as  a  whole  toward  or 
away  from  them,  in  accordance  with  their  significance 
in  the  life  of  the  individual  or  the  species.  Such  are  the 
ceptors  for  sight,  hearing  and  smell,  by  which  the 
animal  perceives  its  enemies,  its  prey  or  its  mates, 
and  by  which  it  is  enabled  to  conduct  itself  in  relation 
to  an  environment  otherwise  unknown  to  it.  Distance 
ceptors  involve  the  action  of  the  whole  organism  rather 
than  its  local  parts,  as  is  the  case  with  contact  ceptors, 
and  expedite  the  motor  acts  which  are  ultimately  con- 
summated by  means  of  impulses  received  through  the 
contact  ceptors.  Thus  the  sight  and  the  smell  of  food 
lead  to  its  acquisition,  and  incidentally  to  a  more  speedy 
acquisition  than  would  follow  were  the  animal  deprived 
of  distance  ceptors  and  forced  to  blunder  blindly  about 
on  the  chance  of  coming  in  contact  with  food.  The 
advantage  to  the  organism  of  thus  being  able  to  react  to 
objects  at  a  distance  goes  far  toward  achieving  the  sur- 
vival of  the  species. 

Like  the  contact  ceptors,  the  distance  ceptors,  on  ade- 
quate stimulation,  give  rise  to  a  discharge  of  energy  for 
an  adaptive  reaction.  Stimulation  of  the  contact  cep- 
tors, however,  leads  to  short,  quick  discharges  of  energy 
for  local  motor  acts  which  involve  a  comparatively  small 
part  of  the  organism,  while  stimulation  of  distance 
ceptors  usually  inaugurates  a  continuous  expenditure 
of  energy  for  a  long  series  of  physical  and  chemical  re- 
actions involving  the  organism  as  a  whole  and  consum- 
ing large  stores  of  energy.  For  example,  stimulation 
of  the  contact  ceptors  of  the  hand  of  a  child  who  plays 
with  fire  will  cause  a  momentary  discharge  of  energy 


70     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

with  a  consequent  quick  retraction  of  the  hand  and  arm ; 
while  in  the  same  child  stimulation  of  the  distance 
ceptors  of  sight  by  the  image  of  a  pot  of  jam  on  the 
pantry  shelf  will  cause  a  continuous  discharge  of  energy 
for  a  long  series  of  motor  acts. 

Had  distance  ceptors  never  been  developed,  life  would 
have  remained  on  the  plane  of  stationary  animals, 
such  as  the  sponge.  The  inner  processes,  those  con- 
nected with  circulation,  respiration,  digestion  and 
elimination,  might  have  been  developed  through  contact 
stimulation,  but  incentive  to  penetrate  into  the  dis- 
tant environment  would  never  have  been  realized. 
In  other  words,  the  evolution  of  distance  ceptors  in 
animals  is  correlated  with  the  evolution  of  their  powers 
of  free  movement. 

In  his  work  on  the  "  Integrative  Action  of  the  Nervous 
System,"  Sherrington  clearly  emphasizes  the  impor- 
tant connection  between  distance  ceptors,  locomotion 
and  the  upbuilding  of  the  higher  brain  functions,  and 
gives  some  interesting  confirmatory  examples  of  the 
simultaneous  disappearance  of  sense  organs  and  loss  of 
locomotion  in  animals  which  metamorphose  from  an 
active  motor  life  to  one  of  a  sedentary  character. 
Certain  species  of  the  Ascidia  and  barnacles,  for  in- 
stance, are  animals  which  are  suddenly  transformed 
from  a  larval  life  of  active  locomotion  to  one  of  inactiv- 
ity when  in  the  course  of  their  development  they  become 
attached  to  some  fixed  object  in  their  environment. 
The  Brachiopod,  for  example,  at  first  possesses  a  loco- 
motor  mechanism  and  a  well-developed  visual  organ. 
When  it  suddenly  relinquishes  larval  life  and  becomes 
permanently  attached  to  a  fixed  object,  the  highly  de- 


CONTACT   CEPTORS  71 

veloped  eye  degenerates  and  disappears.  A  similar 
transformation  occurs  in  the  free-swimming  Ascidian, 
which  likewise  begins  life  with  a  comparatively  highly 
differentiated  nervous  system,  consisting  of  a  brain, 
a  spinal  cord  and  a  well-developed  eye.  Like  the 
Brachiopod,  it  becomes  attached  to  a  stationary  object 
and  the  highly  developed  nervous  system,  of  use  in 
its  motor  life,  disappears. 

The  chemical  ceptors  for  the  apprehension  of  stimuli 
and  the  initiation  of  purely  chemical  reactions  are 
distributed  throughout  the  inner  tissues.  Chemical 
ceptors  are  found  in  the  linings  of  the  stomach  and  in- 
testine, in  the  brain  and  in  the  medulla.  They  govern 
respiration  and  circulation;  they  govern  hunger  and 
thirst ;  and,  by  maintaining  the  standard  of  chemical 
purity  of  the  body,  they  govern  energy  transformation. 
Upon  adequate  stimulation  the  chemical  ceptors  give 
rise  to  reactions  which  are  in  all  respects  as  specific  and 
adaptive  as  those  initiated  by  the  contact  and  distance 
ceptors.  Although  they  are  among  the  most  obscure 
and  elusive  of  adaptive  mechanisms,  the  chemical 
ceptors  present  some  of  the  most  striking  examples  of 
specific  reflex  action  in  the  organism. 

Contact  Ceptor  Mechanisms 

In  the  functions  of  contact,  distance  and  chemical 
ceptors  is  to  be  found  a  remarkable  confirmation  of  the 
law  of  specific  response,  a  typical  illustration  of  which  is 
the  adaptive  reaction  of  Venus7  fly-trap. 

Wherever  in  the  organism  mechanisms  for  the  recep- 
tion of  contact  stimuli  exist,  they  are  in  type  and  func- 
tion specific  to  the  biologic  needs  of  the  area  in  which 


72     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

they  are  implanted.  The  adequate  stimulus  for  each 
one  of  these  mechanisms  is  some  agent  in  the  environ- 
ment which  originally  occasioned  the  development  of 
that  mechanism  in  the  organism.  The  response  to  the 
stimulus  is  invariably  some  act  by  which  the  organism  is 
protected  or  the  welfare  of  the  species  promoted. 

The  response  to  a  stimulation  of  the  ceptors  of  the 
skin  by  heat  or  mechanical  injury  is  a  type  of  pain  which 
is  specific  to  the  form  of  injury.  Stimulation  of  the 
contact  ceptors  of  the  membranous  lining  of  the  nose 
produces  a  sneeze,  leading  to  the  expulsion  of  the  harm- 
ful obstruction.  Stimulation  of  the  membrane  of  the 
throat,  pharynx  or  larynx  produces  a  cough,  whose  pur- 
pose is  the  expulsion  of  the  source  of  irritation.  Stim- 
ulation of  the  esophagus  produces  a  swallowing  move- 
ment ;  of  the  lining  of  the  stomach  and  of  the  muscular 
wall  of  the  intestine,  peristalsis;  of  the  interior  walls 
of  the  uterus  and  tubes,  of  the  gall  bladder  and 
ducts,  of  the  urinary  bladder,  of  the  ureter,  of  the 
kidney  or  of  the  rectum,  contractions  which  are 
specific  to  those  regions,  resulting  in  the  expulsion  of 
their  contents.  In  no  case  could  any  of  these  mechan- 
isms, each  adequate  to  the  protection  of  its  particular 
field,  be  interchanged  with  another  to  initiate  an  act 
of  protection.  Stimulation  of  the  cornea  of  the  eye 
cannot  produce  a  sneeze,  irritation  of  the  nose  cannot 
produce  a  cough ;  contact  with  the  skin  cannot  produce 
peristalsis. 

In  no  case  is  any  mechanism  superfluous.  Although 
some  mechanisms,  such  as  the  scratch  reflex,  may  show 
evidence  of  a  vast  antiquity  and  a  dwindling  usefulness, 
the  organism  as  a  whole  is  far  from  being  sufficiently 


CONTACT   CEPTORS  73 

equipped  with  protective  reflexes  whereby  to  withstand 
all  the  harmful  mechanical  agencies  that  menace  its 
survival.  The  lack  of  protective  response  to  the  X-ray, 
for  instance,  is  but  one  of  many  similar  instances  of  the 
lack  of  protective  mechanisms  against  lately  evolved 
menaces  to  human  life. 

In  the  areas  and  organs  which  through  the  ages  have 
been  most  exposed  to  direct  contact  with  environment, 
we  find  the  greatest  number  and  the  most  complete 
systems  of  adaptation  to  the  common  harmful  and 
beneficial  agencies  which  are  encountered  in  the  en- 
vironment. Thus,  in  the  skin  and  exposed  mucous 
membranes  we  find  the  most  plentiful  distribution  of 
ceptors  in  those  regions  most  open  to  environmental 
contacts.  In  the  mechanism  for  the  protection  of  the 
eye  and  the  nose  we  have  a  symbolic  suggestion  of 
perennial  flying  dust  and  debris,  which  always  must 
have  imperiled  the  organism  by  assailing  those  im- 
portant organs.  In  the  abundant  ceptors  for  touch  on 
the  hand  and  for  taste  on  the  tongue,  we  have  proof 
that  it  was  always  at  these  points  that  objects  to  be 
apprehended  or  swallowed  were  first  encountered. 
The  location  of  the  ceptor  mechanisms  tells  a  vivid  story 
of  the  development  of  the  organism,  of  the  chief  dangers 
which  have  threatened  and  the  chief  benefits  which 
have  exerted  a  positive  influence  upon  the  survival  of 
the  species.  On  the  other  hand,  the  absence  of  ceptors 
gives  equally  suggestive  testimony  regarding  the  phy- 
logeny  of  the  species.  On  the  basis  of  the  presence 
and  the  absence  of  ceptor  mechanisms,  therefore,  we 
may  infer  and  reconstruct  much  of  the  past  history  of 
the  organism. 


74     MAN —  AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

The  Tickle  Reflex 

Of  similar  significance  is  the  not  infrequent  appear- 
ance of  a  mechanism  of  little  or  no  present  value  to  the 
organism ;  for  just  as  the  organism  is  slow  in  evolving 
adaptations  to  newly  developed  factors  in  the  environ- 
ment, it  is  slow  in  discarding  adaptations  to  an  older 
environment,  even  such  as  may  be  a  hindrance  to  life 
under  present  conditions.  Such  a  relic  of  prehistoric 
perils  is  the  tickle  reflex.  It  is  more  strange  than  ap- 
pears at  first  glance  that  the  tickle  reflex  can  be  excited 
only  in  certain  parts  of  the  body,  by  but  two  types  of 
tactile  impression,  and  that  it  is  invariably  accom- 
panied by  a  self -protective  reaction.  One  type  of  the 
tickle  reflex  is  elicited  by  a  light  running  motion  on  the 
surface  of  the  skin,  which  produces  a  sensation  like  that 
produced  by  a  crawling  insect,  with  an  irresistible  desire 
to  scratch  or  rub  the  affected  part.  A  sharp  impact 
causes  pain,  but  if  the  adequate  stimulus  of  contact 
which  simulates  the  crawling  of  an  insect  be  applied  again 
and  again  in  the  same  spot  it  will  cause  each  time  the 
same  tickling  sensation.  This  reflex  was  undoubtedly 
developed  at  a  time  when  insects  were  a  great  menace 
to  life,  and  when  only  those  individuals  which  evolved 
an  effective  defense  were  able  to  prevail.  It  may  even 
supply  an  explanation  of  man's  loss  of  hair  in  the  up- 
ward march,  since  the  presence  of  hair  would  provide 
ambush  for  the  insect  enemy,  and  its  loss,  together  with 
the  evolution  of  the  tickle  sensation,  would  greatly 
facilitate  defense. 

Although  the  need  of  this  gross  adaptation  against 
the  attacks  of  insects  is  steadily  waning  as  more  subtle 


CONTACT   CEPTORS  75 

methods  of  adaptation  advance,  —  sanitation,  drugs, 
clothing,  etc.,  — yet  insects  still  menace  man's  welfare, 
even  his  life ;  the  mosquito  is  still  the  most  active  agent 
by  which  malarial  fever  and  yellow  fever  are  dissemi- 
nated ;  by  the  bite  of  the  flea,  man  may  be  inoculated 
with  bubonic  plague ;  and  sleeping  sickness  may  result 
from  the  sting  of  the  tsetse  fly. 

A  second  type  of  tickle  reflex  is  elicited  by  heavy 
penetrating  pressure  in  the  region  of  the  ribs,  the  loins, 
the  base  of  the  neck  and  the  soles  of  the  feet  —  the 
pressure  simulating  the  penetrating  contact  of  a  tooth- 
shaped  body.  The  reaction  in  this  case  is  a  violent 
discharge  of  energy  in  the  form  of  laughter  with  cries 
for  mercy  and  frantic  muscular  efforts  to  be  free  if  the 
stimulus  be  continued.  If  one  were  tied  hand  and  foot 
and  were  vigorously  tickled  for  an  hour,  he  would  prob- 
ably be  as  completely  exhausted  as  if  he  had  run  a 
Marathon  race  or  sustained  a  crushing  injury ;  indeed, 
victims  of  torture  in  the  Middle  Ages  were  often  killed 
by  prolonged  tickling. 

The  fact  that  these  ticklish  areas  are  found  in  those 
parts  of  the  body  which  are  still  and  must  always  have 
been  the  points  most  frequently  attacked  by  savage 
beasts  leaves  little  doubt  that  this  reaction  developed 
at  a  time  when  man's  progenitors,  like  the  carnivora 
to-day,  fought  their  enemies  face  to  face  with  tooth  and 
claw,  and  that  this  mechanism  was  acquired  as  a  means 
of  protection  against  valiant  foes.  (Fig.  6.) 

There  is  abundant  evidence  to  bear  out  this  conclu- 
sion. Children  and  young  animals  at  play  invariably 
recapitulate  the  fight  maneuvers  of  their  ancestors  by 
attacks  in  ticklish  spots.  Playful  puppies  in  frolic 


76     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


Drawn  by  W.  J.  Brownlow  from  Dr.  A.  E.  Brehm's  "  Life  or  Animals." 

FIG.  6.  —  CONTEST  BETWEEN  ANT-BEAR  AND  PUMA. 

This  attack  with  teeth  and  claws  upon  unprotected  parts  illustrates  the 
method  by  which  deep  ticklish  points  may  have  been  evolved,  and  explains 
why  trauma  of  these  parts  produces  the  greatest  shock. 

bite  each  other  in  their  ticklish  points,  giving  a  mimic 
representation  of  ancestral  fights,  as  well  as  of  fights  to 
come.  Children  commonly  and  with  glee  fling  them- 
selves upon  one  another  in  the  same  attitude;  one 


CONTACT   CEPTORS  77 

youngster,  the  weaker,  flat  on  his  back,  with  arms  and 
legs  upraised,  fights  playfully  in  self-defense,  while  the 
other,  on  top,  pummels  and  claws  him  in  neck  and  ribs 
in  a  playful  effort  to  excite  him,  the  mimic  contest  not 
infrequently  terminating  in  a  real  fight  in  which  the 
same  parts  are  vigorously  attacked. 

The  fact  that  animals  fight  effectively  in  the  dark  and 
always  according  to  the  habits  of  their  species  would 
seem  to  suggest  strongly  that  fighting  is  not  an  intelli- 
gent occupation,  but  a  reflex  process,  dependent  solely 
upon  the  infliction  of  blows  in  responsive  areas ;  and  to 
be  explained,  as  Sherrington  explains  the  reflex  processes 
of  walking  or  running,  as  a  succession  of  varying  pres- 
sures occurring  in  the  feet,  joints  and  limbs,  by  which 
is  produced  a  series  of  stimulations  and  responses  which 
appear  in  aggregate  as  the  harmonious  " habit"  of 
locomotion. 

The  relation  of  tickling  to  laughter  is  an  interesting 
feature  of  this  reflex  and  will  be  referred  to  later  when 
we  discuss  the  phenomenon  of  laughter.  Just  now  it 
is  sufficient  to  note  that  there  is  no  laughter  in  response 
to  tickling  by  an  insect,  but  boisterous  laughter  on 
stimulation  of  the  deep  ticklish  areas.  The  expendi- 
ture of  energy  in  each  case  is  proportional  to  the  phy- 
logenetic  demand  of  the  original  condition  which  gave 
rise  to  the  reflex.  Indeed  each  type  of  the  tickle  reflex 
is  an  excellent  example  of  a  specific  response  to  specific 
excitation. 

Phylogenetic  Origin  of  Specific  Reflexes 

As  the  tickle  reflexes  have  been  developed  in  response 
to  attacks  by  insects  and  carnivora,  so  other  material 


78     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

dangers,  such  as  flying  dust  and  debris,  poisons,  falling 
bodies,  heat  and  cold,  have  added  the  reflexes  of  wink- 
ing, coughing,  sneezing,  vomiting,  fainting,  shivering 
and  sweating,  which  in  like  manner  exemplify  the  adap- 
tation of  the  organism  as  a  whole  or  in  part  to  specific 
menaces  in  the  environment.  Of  all  the  ceptor  mech- 
anisms for  protection  the  most  wonderfully  adequate  are 
the  mechanisms  which  guard  the  eye.  In  the  primeval 
struggle,  the  injury  or  loss  of  this  member,  so  vitally 
connected  with  all  processes  of  nutrition  and  protection, 
meant  instant  death.  And  there  were  always  myriads 
of  agencies  capable  of  accomplishing  the  destruction  of 
the  eye.  There  were  the  menaces  of  flying  twigs  and 
branches  in  the  forest,  of  storm-driven  dust  on  the  plains, 
of  the  dry  pollen  of  ripening  plants,  of  the  sharp  edges 
of  dead  blossoms  and  leaves,  of  thorns  and  of  stones. 
As  a  protection  against  these  manifold  hazards,  there 
has  been  evolved  a  remarkable  mechanism  :  a  smooth, 
round,  elastic  little  ball,  incased  in  a  transparent, 
glassy  membrane,  exquisitely  sensitive  to  touch.  This 
ball  is  protected  by  the  lid  which  fits  around  the  curve 
of  the  cornea  and  is  rendered  doubly  effective  by  its 
hard,  smooth  margin  and  fine  fringe  of  delicate  lashes. 
This  beautifully  adapted  lid  closes  instantly  when  a 
foreign  body  touches  the  cornea  and  its  moist  inside 
surface  sweeps  again  and  again  across  the  surface 
of  the  cornea  in  an  effort  to  dislodge  the  offend- 
ing particle,  while  the  lachrymal  glands,  being  simul- 
taneously stimulated,  expedite  the  process  of  removal 
by  pouring  out  a  fluid  which  is  admirably  adapted  to 
carry  away  the  invader. 

In  like  manner  an  especially  delicate  mechanism  has 


CONTACT   CEPTORS  79 

been  evolved  to  protect  the  lungs  from  the  invasion  of 
foreign  particles  which  might  enter  through  the  nose 
and  throat.  The  perfect  adaptation  of  this  mechanism 
is  manifested  in  the  act  of  sneezing,  which  occurs  when 
the  lungs  are  threatened  by  a  foreign  body  approaching 
through  the  nose.  Breathing  through  the  nose  ceases 
instantly  —  that  the  foreign  body  may  not  be  drawn 
farther  inward ;  the  mouth  opens  to  take  in  a  large 
amount  of  air,  which  is  suddenly  and  violently  expelled 
through  the  nose,  effectively  clearing  the  passage. 
The  protective  action  is  further  facilitated  by  the 
simultaneous  outpouring  of  mucus  which,  like  tears,  is 
excellently  adapted  to  carry  off  deleterious  bodies.  The 
adaptive  act  of  blowing  through  the  nose  is  apparently 
a  recent  development. 

To  a  foreign  body  in  the  larynx  the  adaptive  response 
is  a  cough.  The  regular  respiration  is  inhibited,  but 
there  is  a  cautious  intake  of  air,  followed  by  its  violent 
expiration  through  the  partially  closed  vocal  cords,  so 
that  every  portion  of  the  upper  mucous  membrane  is 
subjected  to  a  thorough  searching  pressure.  This  reflex 
is  of  such  value  to  the  organism  that  it  is  ever  active  by 
night  as  by  day,  being  wholly  abolished  neither  by  sleep 
nor  by  inhalation. anesthesia. 

Unlike  the  respiratory  tract,  the  digestive  tract  is  not 
efficiently  protected  against  the  entrance  of  harmful 
foreign  bodies.  The  reflex  responses  to  smell  and  taste 
are  excellent  guardians  of  this  region,  however,  for  they 
act  as  rigid  censors  of  such  deleterious  matter  as  de- 
cayed food,  putrid  flesh  and  excreta.  The  universal 
repugnance  of  man  and  of  some  animals  to  the  odor  of 
their  own  excreta  is  evidence  that  this  is  an  ancient  and 


80     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

important  adaptation.  That  this  is  true  of  the  act  of 
vomiting  also  is  shown  by  the  extreme  difficulty  with 
which  that  reflex  is  dispossessed  in  the  presence  of 
other  stimuli.  Vomiting  occurs  in  the  midst  of  deepest 
emotion,  of  excruciating  pain,  during  sleep  and  during 
anesthesia,  even  up  to  the  very  moment  of  death,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  it  is  attended  by  a  widespread 
muscular  activity,  during  which  the  glottis  is  closed,  the 
diaphragm  fixed,  and  the  entire  muscular  apparatus 
of  the  respiratory  tract  thrown  into  the  most  violent 
contractions.  Strangely  enough,  vomiting  occurs  al- 
most exclusively  among  carnivora  and  omnivora,  this 
fact  suggesting  an  interesting  comparison  of  the  hazards 
of  flesh  with  those  of  vegetable  diet. 

In  the  adaptations  of  many  animals  to  cold  and  heat 
are  to  be  seen  some  of  the  most  characteristic  re- 
sponses to  contact  ceptor  stimulation.  Many  animals 
are  provided  with  structural  protection  against  cold  and 
heat  by  such  variations  in  the  body  covering  as  fur, 
feathers,  hair,  wool,  layers  of  fat  and  pigmentation. 
Among  warm-blooded  animals  the  most  common  reac- 
tions to  cold  and  heat  are  shivering,  sweating  and  the 
sensation  of  thirst. 

An  interesting  adaptation  of  birds  to  cold  weather  is 
the  phenomenon  of  "  ruffled  feathers,"  whereby  in  the 
spaces  between  the  quills  a  warm  envelope  of  air  is 
retained  around  the  body.  Protection  against  cold 
by  the  prevention  of  heat  radiation  is  secured  also  by 
the  lowered  respiratory  rate  which  is  common  to  most 
animals  when  they  come  into  contact  with  cold.  The 
habit  of  hibernation  is  an  adaptation  for  protection 
against  starvation  rather  than  against  cold,  since  for 


CONTACT   CEPTORS  81 

those  animals  which  hibernate  prolonged  cold  means  a 
period  of  lessened  food  supply. 

The  response  to  external  heat  by  sweating  and  mus- 
cular relaxation  is  an  effective  method  for  reducing  heat 
production  and  increasing  heat  elimination. 

The  Specific  Response  of  Pain 

In  addition  to  these  various  protective  mechanisms, 
there  exists  for  the  defense  of  the  body  the  important 
phenomenon  of  pain.  The  pain  which  accompanies  ab- 
normal organic  conditions  will  be  considered  in  other 
parts  of  this  volume,  but  the  pain  which  forms  part  of 
the  response  to  excessive  light,  to  heat,  to  cold,  to  me- 
chanical injury,  to  local  anemia  resulting  from  a  cramped 
position,  or  to  the  pressure  upon  internal  organs  which 
presages  the  evacuation  of  their  contents,  is  essentially  a 
normal  phenomenon  and  must  be  considered  with  other 
normal  adaptations  initiated  by  the  stimulation  of 
contact  ceptors. 

In  type,  location  and  intensity  pain  is  always  specific 
to  the  stimulus  by  which  it  is  evoked.  In  addition  pain 
is  always  associated  with  some  form  of  muscular  action 
by  which  the  body  moves  away  from,  fights  off,  re- 
moves or  expels  from  the  body  harmful  agents  or  prod- 
ucts or  makes  other  muscular  adjustments  and  adapta- 
tions. As  we  shall  see  later,  pain  is  analogous  in  nature 
to  the  phenomena  of  the  emotions  which  occur  in  re- 
sponse to  distance  ceptor  stimulation  and  in  an  analo- 
gous manner  expedite  adaptive  motor  reactions. 

A  child  puts  his  hand  into  the  fire,  and  instantly  re- 
coils. A  boy  steps  upon  a  sharp  stone,  and  bounds 
away  hastily.  Pain  is  the  precursor  of  each  act.  Pro- 


82     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

longed  pressure  on  any  part  of  the  body  produces  the 
pain  of  anemia  which  is  followed  by  vigorous  muscular 
activity  to  hasten  the  return  of  the  normal  circulation. 
Pain  induces  the  emptying  of  an  overextended  urinary 
bladder,  contractions  of  the  large  and  of  the  small 
intestine  to  overcome  obstruction,  and  delivery  from 
the  pregnant  uterus.  The  most  exquisite  pain  re- 
sults from  mechanical  irritations  of  the  cornea  and 
is  followed  by  a  complicated  muscular  reaction. 
Pain  of  a  specific  type  results  from  irritation  of  the 
pharynx,  the  larynx  or  the  trachea,  and  in  each  case 
is  followed  by  appropriate  muscular  reactions. 

Like  pain  itself,  the  muscular  activity  which  follows 
pain  is  specific  in  type,  location  and  intensity  to  the 
exciting  stimulus.  That  is,  the  muscular  act  of  cough- 
ing, which  follows  the  pain  produced  by  an  obstruction 
in  the  larynx,  is  specific  to  the  menace  in  that  area. 
The  muscular  act  of  scratching  which  accompanies  the 
quasi  pain  of  tickling  is  adequate  for  an  insect's  bite,  but 
would  be  inadequate  for  the  pain  produced  by  intense 
heat  or  a  heavy  blow. 

Pain  Areas 

In  order  to  discover  the  relative  distribution  of  con- 
tact ceptors  in  the  body  and  to  confirm  their  adaptive 
origin,  we  undertook  an  extensive  research  upon  ani- 
mals subjected  to  various  types  of  trauma,  while  un- 
der ether  anesthesia.  We  have  stated  already  that  the 
result  of  any  stimulus  is  to  cause  a  transformation  of 
potential  into  kinetic  energy  for  an  adaptive  reaction ; 
this  adaptive  reaction  in  the  case  of  mechanical  injury 
being  some  form  of  muscular  activity  tending  to  protect 


CONTACT  CEPTORS  83 

the  injured  part.  In  previous  books  and  papers 1  it  has 
been  shown  that  unconsciousness  produced  by  inhalation 
anesthesia  does  not  interfere  with  certain  discharges  of 
energy  in  response  to  physical  injury,  and  that,  except 
for  the  absence  of  pain  and  muscular  action,  the  ulti- 
mate effect  of  trauma  under  anesthesia  is  the  same  as  if 
the  injury  were  inflicted  upon  a  conscious  animal.  In 
other  words,  with  the  exception  of  the  diminished  or  ab- 
sent response  of  the  skeletal  muscles,  the  reaction  of  an 
anesthetized  animal  to  a  certain  degree  of  trauma  is 
comparable  to  the  reactions  of  a  conscious  animal  to  the 
same  trauma.  This  reaction  includes  an  increased  re- 
spiratory and  heart  rate,  a  disturbance  of  the  blood- 
pressure,  an  increased  acidity  of  the  blood  and  the  urine 
and  —  if  the  injury  inflicted  be  sufficiently  great  —  his- 
tological  changes  in  the  brain,  the  liver  and  the  adrenals. 
Since  in  some  degree  all  the  physiological  phenomena 
above  enumerated  attend  upon  every  activation,  any 
one  of  them  may  be  taken  as  an  index  of  the  entire  proc- 
ess. In  our  investigation  of  the  effect  of  mechanical 
injury  upon  various  parts  of  the  body  the  blood-pres- 
sure and  the  respiratory  rate  were  taken  as  an  index. 
That  is  to  say,  if  injury  to  the  paw  of  a  dog  caused  a  rise 
in  blood  pressure  and  increased  respiration,  these 
changes  were  regarded  as  indices  of  the  total  stimula- 
tion, and  as  an  evidence  of  the  existence  of  pain  ceptors 
in  the  part  producing  the  response.2  If  on  trauma- 
tizing a  given  region  no  change  in  blood-pressure  or 

1  G.  W.   Crile :    An  Experimental  and  Clinical  Research  into 
Surgical  Shock ;  G.  W.  Crile  and  W.  E.  LoWer :    Anoci  Association. 

2  In  the  abdominal  region  a  fall,  not  a  rise,  in  blood  pressure 
occurs.     If  trauma  causes  any  change  in  the  blood-pressure,  whether 
it  be  a  fall  or  a  rise,  the  presence  of  contact  ceptors  is  indicated. 


84     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

respiration  was  noted,  and  no  corresponding  histologic 
changes  were  found  in  the  brain,  the  adrenals  or  the 
liver,  we  assumed  that  these  were  pain-free  areas, 
that  is,  that  they  contained  no  contact  ceptors. 

In  our  experiments  we  found,  moreover,  that  the 
nature  of  the  response  to  trauma  under  ether  depended 
not  only  upon  the  location,  but  also  upon  the  type  of 
the  injury.  In  other  words,  our  investigations  showed 
that  the  more  a  given  part,  by  reason  of  its  position, 
was  exposed  to  injurious  contact  with  environment 
during  the  vast  periods  of  evolution,  the  more  thickly 
is  it  sown  with  contact  ceptors:  and  that  the  more 
nearly  the  artificial  injuries  resembled  those  prob- 
ably encountered  in  the  phylogenetic  past,  the  more 
immediate  and  vehement  was  the  response  elic- 
ited. Thus,  when  the  skin  of  any  part  of  the  body 
was  burned,  cut  or  torn,  there  was  a  prompt  rise  in 
blood-pressure,  indicating  the  presence  of  the  many 
contact  ceptors  which  had  been  developed  to  protect 
the  body  against  the  many  harmful  contacts  of  like 
nature  which  must  have  assailed  the  naked  body 
throughout  phylogeny. 

As  would  be  expected,  the  skin  of  the  extremities 
was  found  to  be  more  keenly  sensitive  than  that  of 
any  other  part,  for  it  has  been  ever  by  means  of  its 
extremities  that  the  animal  has  first  met  the  mate- 
rial obstacles  in  its  path.  It  was  by  means  of  con- 
tact impressions  that  the  organism  first  distinguished 
the  good  from  the  evil  in  its  environment.  Injuries 
to  the  paws  of  an  anesthetized  dog  —  cutting,  crush- 
ing, fracturing,  amputating  and  burning  —  were  at- 
tended by  a  sharp  rise  in  blood-pressure,  followed  by 


CONTACT   CEPTORS  85 

a  fall;  and  the  respirations  increased  in  frequency 
and  became  irregular.  These  responses  are  identical 
with  those  which  follow  the  crushing  or  burning  of  the 
hand  of  a  conscious  human  being. 

Injuries  to  the  muscles  of  the  trunk  and  extremities 
caused  a  rise  in  blood-pressure  similar  to  that  caused 
by  cutting  the  skin.  The  rise  was  more  marked  when 
the  muscles  most  exposed  to  attack  were  injured  — 
such  as  the  muscles  of  the  extremities  and  abdomen  — 
and  was  less  marked  when  the  protected  deep  lumbar 
muscles  were  injured.  When  amputating  the  hip  of 
a  dog,  the  skin  incision  alone  caused  almost  as  much 
change  in  the  circulation  and  respiration  as  was  caused 
by  severing  the  entire  muscular  mass  of  the  thigh.  The 
cutting,  burning  and  tearing  of  connective  tissues  — 
fascia,  tendons  and  ligaments  —  produced  little  or 
no  appreciable  effect  on  the  blood-pressure. 

Injury  of  the  bone  disclosed  the  fact  that  roughly 
cutting  or  separating  the  periosteum  caused  a  slight 
rise  in  blood-pressure,  while  no  alteration  in  blood-pres- 
sure or  respiration  was  produced  by  sawing,  curetting, 
cutting  or  crushing  cartilage  or  bones  from  which  the 
periosteum  had  previously  been  removed.  In  the  fact 
that  injury  to  the  interior  of  either  the  large  or  the 
small  joints  is  likewise  attended  by  little  or  no  re- 
sponse, we  have  seemingly  a  curious  inconsistency. 
It  might  be  explained  on  the  ground  that  a  crippled 
animal  would  have  scant  chance  for  life  in  the  wilds. 
His  superior  foes  would  certainly  overpower  him 
speedily,  so  that  there  would  be  no  opportunity  for 
the  development  through  survival  of  a  protective 
mechanism. 


86     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

In  traumatizing  the  peripheral  nerve  trunks  we 
found  that  the  type  of  injury  had  an  important  bear- 
ing upon  the  response  elicited.  Thus  the  dragging, 
pulling,  tearing  and  contusing  of  nerve  trunks  produced 
marked  changes  in  the  blood-pressure  and  respiration. 
Thermal  irritation  caused  an  even  greater  rise  in  blood- 
pressure  ;  but  if  the  nerves  were  severed  quickly  with 
a  sharp  knife,  the  resultant  response  was  slight.  There 
were  no  hostile  animals  or  agencies  in  the  phylogenetic 
environment  whose  instruments  of  attack  approximated 
the  exquisitely  sharp  scalpel  of  the  surgeon. 

Everywhere  about  the  head  and  neck,  as  we  have 
noted,  there  is  an  adequate  provision  of  self-defensive 
mechanisms.  Yet  in  a  general  traumatization  of  these 
parts  it  was  noted  that  apart  from  the  keen  sensibility 
of  the  skin  covering,  there  was  no  abundant  distribu- 
tion of  contact  ceptors.  If  the  eyes,  the  conjunctiva, 
the  eyeball  or  the  optic  nerve  was  injured,  there  was  occa- 
sionally a  slight  though  scarcely  perceptible  change  in 
blood-pressure.  The  adaptive  response  here  is  confined 
chiefly  to  winking,  which  exerts  but  slight  demand  on  the 
general  muscular  system,  hence  no  circulatory  changes 
are  seen.  But  such  injuries  as  the  contusion,  laceration 
or  dilatation  of  the  nostrils  were  met  promptly  by  a 
distinct  rise  in  the  blood-pressure.  In  this  case  a  vital 
function  of  the  body  —  respiration  —  was  threatened. 
The  response  was  equivalent  to  that  frantic  fighting 
to  be  free  which  follows  any  attempt  to  obstruct  the 
nostrils  of  any  animal  or  of  man.  For  the  same  reason, 
mechanical  injury  of  the  interior  structures  of  the  throat 
and  mouth  produces  a  change  in  blood-pressure,  when 
injury  to  the  respirator}'  function  is  threatened.  The 


CONTACT   CEPTORS  87 

inner  structures  of  the  mouth,  where  contact  with  en- 
vironment is  confined  chiefly  to  the  intake  of  food, 
have  had  scant  opportunity  to  evolve  any  important 
defense  mechanisms  beyond  those  guarding  against  the 
ingest  ion  of  improper  food. 

The  same  loyalty  to  the  respiratory  function  and 
indifference  to  other  menaces  was  manifested  by  the 
larynx,  trachea  and  esophagus,  when  these  parts  were 
subjected  to  injury  under  anesthesia.  Instant  arrest 
of  the  respiration  was  caused  by  even  gentle  contact 
with  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  larynx  at  any  point 
from  just  below  the  vocal  cords  to  the  upper  laryngeal 
opening  and  the  under  surfaces  of  the  epiglottis. 
Injuring  the  trachea  caused  coughing,  but  injuring 
the  esophagus  caused  no  response.  Extensive  dis- 
sections of  other  tissues  of  the  neck  caused  no  disturb- 
ance of  the  blood-pressure  and  respiration  provided  that 
the  vagi  and  sympathetic  nerves  were  uninjured. 

For  the  protection  of  the  master  organ,  the  brain, 
there  has  been  evolved  the  most  adequate  of  structural 
protections  —  namely,  the  skull.  In  accordance  with 
the  premise  that  contact  ceptors  have  been  developed 
only  in  those  parts  of  the  body  that  have  been  exposed 
to  the  environment,  one  would  expect  to  find  none 
within  the  brain,  which  has  always  been  shielded  by  its 
bony  covering.  To  test  this  point,  the  brains  of 
anesthetized  dogs  were  exposed  and  one  hemisphere 
of  each  was  subjected  to  trauma.  No  change  in 
blood-pressure  or  respiration  was  noted  in  any  instance ; 
and  microscopic  examination  of  the  uninjured  hemi- 
spheres showed  no  histologic  changes.  So  complete 
throughout  phylogeny  has  been  this  protection  of 


88     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

the  brain  from  injury  that  if  the  skull  has  been  pre- 
viously opened  under  anesthesia,  the  brain  of  a  con- 
scious patient  may  be  explored  with  a  probe  for  a 
tumor  or  other  lesion  without  causing  the  slightest 
pain  —  indeed,  the  entire  brain  could  be  removed  with- 
out the  patient's  knowledge. 

After  the  extremities,  the  greatest  shock-producing 
areas  of  the  body  were  shown  to  be  the  chest  and  the 
abdomen.  The  deeper  areas,  the  organs  in  the  retro- 
peritoneal  region  and  the  muscles  of  the  spine  showed 
slight  or  no  response  to  injury.  Although  injury  to 
the  chest  wall  causes  pain,  the  heart  may  be  pierced 
by  a  needle  without  pain.  The  heart,  like  the  brain, 
has  had  no  phylogenetic  opportunity  to  evolve  pain 
ceptors,  and  like  the  brain  has  always  been  a  vital 
organ,  the  penetration  of  which  meant  instant  death 
to  the  individual.  The  lungs  likewise  are  pain-silent 
to  gun-shot  wounds,  stabs,  contusions  and  punctures. 
In  opening  lung  abscesses  no  pain  is  caused  by  the 
penetration  of  the  lung  tissue. 

Within  the  abdomen  we  found  similar  contrasts  in 
sensibility,  and  here,  too,  the  type  of  trauma  deter- 
mined the  degree  of  shock.  Thus,  in  our  experiments, 
pulling  upon,  dragging  and  roughly  manipulating  the 
stomach  and  the  intestines  caused  an  immediate  fall 
in  blood-pressure,  but  a  swift,  keen  incision,  even  the 
crushing  and  burning  of  the  inert  organ,  held  gently 
and  carefully,  caused  no  response.  In  the  clinic  a  loop 
of  intestine  has  frequently  been  brought  into  a  wound 
for  a  few  days  and  opened  with  a  thermo-cautery,  with- 
out pain.  Internal  hemorrhoids  may  be  painlessly  de- 
stroyed by  burning. 


CONTACT   CEPTORS  89 

Rubbing,  dragging,  pulling  upon  or  tearing  the 
parietal  peritoneum  caused  a  lowered  blood-pressure, 
but  the  same  injury  inflicted  upon  tissues  behind 
the  peritoneum  caused  no  marked  change  in  blood- 
pressure  or  respiration.  In  our  researches  the  liver 
was  crushed  and  cut,  the  cystic  duct  was  dilated, 
the  kidneys  were  cut,  crushed  and  contused,  the 
spleen  was  excised  —  all  these  operations  being  per- 
formed without  any  appreciable  effect  upon  blood- 
pressure  or  respiration,  except  when,  by  chance,  in 
the  process,  contact  was  made  with  the  peritoneal 
covering.  While  gentle  handling  of  the  urinary  blad- 
der, the  uterus  and  tubes  caused  little  change, 
specific  injury,  such  as  cutting,  compressing  and 
overdistending  the  bladder,  the  contusion,  incision 
and  rough  manipulation  of  the  uterus  and  tubes 
caused  a  rise  in  blood-pressure,  which  was  especially 
marked  when  the  full  bladder  was  compressed,  or  when 
the  uterus  was  roughly  manipulated.  Experiments 
upon  the  deeper  tissues  in  the  retroperitoneal  space 
revealed  the  fact  that  the  back  and  spine  are  almost 
as  devoid  of  contact  ceptors  as  are  the  brain,  lungs  and 
heart.  Injury  of  the  deep  fascia,  of  the  muscles  or 
bones  of  the  back  caused  but  little  effect  on  blood- 
pressure. 

Now  what  is  the  meaning  of  this  unequal  distribu- 
tion of  contact  ceptors  ?  Our  experiments  have  proved 
that  the  greatest  number  of  contact  ceptors  are  im- 
planted upon  the  front  surfaces  and  the  extremities ; 
that  on  the  back  there  are  few  contact  ceptors,  while 
they  are  almost  or  entirely  lacking  in  protected  areas. 
The  explanation  is  indicated  by  the  type  of  trauma 


90     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

which  elicits  the  most  powerful  response  to  harmful 
stimulation  of  the  contact  ceptors  of  the  chest  and  the 
abdomen.  These  areas  are  the  ones  that  respond  to 
tickling  by  a  recapitulation  of  the .  combats  of  our 
ancestral  animal  enemies.  Undoubtedly,  the  specific 
distribution  of  contact  ceptors  in  the  areas  which  have 
been  the  points  of  attack  throughout  the  ages  is  another 
relic  of  this  era  of  brute  contest.  The  scanty  equip- 
ment of  the  back  and  deeper  areas  with  contact  cep- 
tors is  evidence  that  whatever  fighting  was  done,  was 
done  face  to  face  and  to  the  death.  The  silence  of  the 
vital  organs  is  the  eloquent  silence  of  defeat,  bearing 
testimony  to  the  fatalities  of  the  struggle,  as  the  sensi- 
tive spots  bear  testimony  to  the  hazards  and  escapes. 
It  remains  to  harmonize  certain  exceptional  occur- 
rences. We  noted  experimentally  that  direct  injury 
to  the  gall  bladder  and  cystic  duct  caused  no  respon- 
sive rise  in  blood-pressure.  Yet,  we  know  clinically 
that  the  passing  of  gall  stones  causes  great  pain. 
Likewise  the  experimental  cutting  and  crushing  of 
the  kidney  was  attended  with  no  response  indic- 
ative of  the  presence  of  contact  ceptors;  yet  the 
pain  caused  by  the  passing  of  kidney  stones  is  in- 
tense. In  these  instances  we  have  examples  of  pain 
as  an  adaptive  response  to  pressure  from  within,  its 
purpose  being  to  incite  the  protective  muscular  activ- 
ities of  evacuation  and  expulsion  of  harmful  contents. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  pain  produced  in  the  urinary 
bladder  by  pressure,  and  in  the  uterus  and  tubes  by  a 
reproduction  of  the  normal  type  of  stimulus  which 
induces  the  evacuation  of  their  contents.  These 
organs,  like  the  brain,  are  shielded  from  external 


CONTACT   CEPTORS  91 

injury ,  but  contact  ceptors  have  been  evolved  from 
within  by  the  forces  of  pressure  or  obstruction. 

This  study  of  the  distribution  of  the  pain  areas  in 
the  body  enables  us  to  draw  valuable  conclusions  in 
regard  to  the  evolution  of  functional  processes  in  the 
organism  by  factors  in  the  environment.  To  recapit- 
ulate :  The  response  to  physical  trauma  is  deter- 
mined by  two  things :  (1)  By  the  type  of  injury  in- 
flicted, —  that  is,  whether  or  not  it  approximates 
the  injury  inflicted  during  phylogeny;  (2)  By  the 
region  traumatized,  —  that  is,  whether  or  not  it  was 
exposed  to  injury  throughout  phylogeny.  We  see 
that  injuries  from  artificial,  extra-natural  agencies, 
such  as  keen-bladed  knives,  fast  bullets,  radium  emana- 
tions and  the  X-ray  cause  little  or  no  pain  or  other 
response,  while  injury  by  tearing  with  blunt  instru- 
ments, simulating  the  commonest  type  of  phylogenetic 
attack  with  teeth  and  claws,  or  by  bruising  and  crush- 
ing environmental  contact,  causes  a  swift  and  power- 
ful response  and  pain. 

We  see  that  areas  which  have  been  commonly  pro- 
tected from  contact  with  environment  by  an  impervious 
outer  layer  of  bone  or  flesh,  such  as  the  brain  and  the 
heart,  to  which  penetration  would  have  meant  instant 
death,  have  developed  no  protective  pain  mechanisms, 
while  areas  which  have  been  continuously  exposed  to 
injurious  forces,  such  as  the  surface  and  extremities, 
are  plentifully  supplied  with  contact  ceptors.  Thus, 
deep  and  protected  areas  and  organs,  such  as  the  liver, 
spleen  and  kidneys,  are,  like  the  heart,  lungs  and  brain, 
almost  devoid  of  contact  ceptors :  the  back  and  spine 
are  but  sparsely  supplied,  while  the  exposed  surfaces 


92     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

of  the  palms  of  the  hands,  the  tips  of  the  fingers,  the 
soles  of  the  feet,  the  surfaces  of  the  chest  and  abdomen, 
which  have  ever  borne  the  brunt  of  attack,  are  thickly 
sown  with  protective  mechanisms.  Thus  contact  cep- 
tors  are  more  thickly  sown  upon  the  outer  surface  of  the 
body,  as  compared  with  the  inner,  the  front  as  com- 
pared with  the  back,  the  extremities  as  compared  with 
the  trunk. 

We  see  that  the  contact  ceptors  respond  to  stimula- 
tion by  all  agencies  which  have  exerted  a  powerful 
influence  for  life  or  death  upon  the  species  in  the  past, 
while  they  do  not  respond  to  such  equally  fatal,  but 
lately  developed,  artificial  agents  as  electrical  currents, 
rifle  bullets,  keen-bladed  knives,  radium  emanations 
and  the  X-ray.  Had  these  agencies  been  factors  in 
the  environment  throughout  phylogeny,  those  species 
incapable  of  evolving  mechanisms  of  defense,  either 
of  structural  or  functional  character,  would  long  since 
have  been  eliminated,  as  have  been  those  in  which 
there  was  evolved  no  means  of  defense  against  sun 
and  wind,  against  insects  and  microorganisms,  against 
poisons  and  deleterious  food.  As  the  harmful  effects 
of  any  environmental  agent,  without  awakening  any 
neuro-muscular  response,  may  injure  or  destroy  other 
parts  of  the  body  than  those  exposed  to  their  impinge- 
ment throughout  phylogeny,  so  these  newly  developed 
agents  can  injure  the  whole  body  without  pain.  A 
device  of  exquisitely  sharp  knives  driven  at  a  super- 
latively high  speed  might  cut  the  body  to  pieces  with- 
out exciting  any  neuro-muscular  response. 

In  the  absence,  as  in  the  presence,  of  these  adaptive 
mechanisms,  therefore,  we  are  offered  a  rich  glossary  for 


CONTACT   CEPTORS  93 

the  interpretation  of  man's  phylogeny.  As  the  geol- 
ogists have  reconstructed  the  earth's  past  history 
from  the  evidence  of  fossilized  remnants  buried  deep 
in  its  crust,  so  we  may  reconstruct  the  history  of 
man's  physical  contact  with  nature  from  its  effects 
upon  his  structure  and  its  functions.  As  philologists 
found  a  key  to  the  unknown,  long-buried  hieroglyphic 
language  of  ancient  Egypt  in  the  Rosetta  Stone,  so 
we  find  in  the  distribution  of  contact  ceptors  a  key  to 
that  mysterious  language  of  communication  between 
the  structure  and  the  environment,  which,  being  trans- 
lated, tells  of  a  racial  experience  that  coincides  closely 
with  the  incidents  of  geologic  evolution,  as  we  know 
them.  That  is,  man  has  been  evolved,  much  as  other 
animals  have  been  evolved,  by  fighting,  by  pursuing 
and  being  pursued,  by  crouching,  grasping  and  killing, 
by  cowering  from  the  hostile  wind  and  weather  as  he 
cowered  from  living  enemies;  by  seeking  out  the 
warmth,  moisture  and  sunshine,  as  do  all  living  things 
to-day. 

Law  of  Phylogenetic  Association 

But  more  than  the  past  history  of  the  species  is 
revealed  by  this  relation  between  mechanisms  in  the 
body  and  agencies  in  the  environment.  In  our  experi- 
ments we  found  that  whenever  we  reproduced  approxi- 
mately one  of  the  environmental  stimuli  which  had 
given  rise  to  adaptive  responses  in  the  organism,  we 
evoked  simultaneously  a  transformation  of  energy  com- 
mensurate with  the  energy  required  for  the  phylo- 
genetic  response  to  that  environmental  stimulus. 
When  we  reproduced  the  insect  stimulus  by  tickling, 


94     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

there  resulted  a  transformation  of  energy  and  a  move- 
ment exactly  appropriate  to  the  phylogenetic  association 
of  organism  and  insect.  In  the  recognition  of  this 
inevitable  interaction  is  discovered  an  important 
biologic  law  —  a  law  as  absolute  as  is  the  law  of  gravity. 
It  is  the  law  of  Phylogenetic  Association,  according  to 
which  the  transformation  of  energy  for  adaptive 
ends  is  based  upon  the  adaptive  responses  of  the  or- 
ganism during  its  evolution.  It  is  easy  to  show  that 
responses  to  contact  ceptor  stimuli  are  in  accordance 
with  this  law,  for  these  reactions  are  readily  divisible 
into  their  component  parts.  The  responses  initiated 
by  distance  ceptors  are  not  so  easily  comprehended, 
however,  as  they  are  composed  of  a  group  or  series 
of  motor,  chemical  and  sensory  reactions  which  must 
be  identified  before  their  conformity  to  the  law  of 
phylogenetic  association  is  established.  Before  dis- 
cussing the  reactions  to  distance  ceptor  stimuli,  there- 
fore, it  is  necessary  to  study  the  mode  of  action  of  the 
chemical  ceptor  stimuli. 


CHAPTER  IV 

ADAPTATION    BY   MEANS    OF    CHEMICAL   CEPTORS   AND 
CHEMICAL   ACTIVITY 

THE  division  of  the  receptor  mechanisms  of  the 
body  into  contact,  chemical  and  distance  ceptors  indi- 
cates the  adaptive  power  of  the  organism  as  evinced 
(1)  by  local  cellular  masses;  (2)  by  the  individual 
cells  as  separate  entities;  (3)  by  the  organism  as  a 
whole.  For,  as  we  have  seen,  the  response  to  heat 
pain  by  the  removal  of  the  injured  part  from  the  in- 
juring contact  is  essentially  the  response  of  a  part  of 
the  organism  for  the  good  of  the  whole.  In  like  man- 
ner, such  protective  reactions  as  the  response  to  excita- 
tion of  the  chemical  ceptors  in  the  stomach  by  food ; 
in  the  respiratory  centers  by  acidity;  in  the  cortex 
by  foreign  proteins ;  in  the  mouth  and  nose  by  food 
and  food  particles,  are  responses  of  specialized  tissue 
for  the  good  of  the  whole  animal,  these  reactions  dif- 
fering in  kind  but  not  in  principle  from  reactions  to 
excitation  of  the  contact  ceptors.  Later,  we  shall 
see  that  the  response  to  excitation  of  the  distance 
ceptors  is  the  response  of  the  integrated  animal  for  the 
good  of  the  species. 

The  existence  of  chemical  mechanisms  of  adaptation 
indicates  the  existence  of  an  inner  activating  medium 
which  is  distinct  from  the  outer  activating  environ- 
ment. As  the  contact  ceptors  represent  the  factors 

95 


96     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

of  an  ever-changing  world  without  the  organism,  so 
the  chemical  ceptors,  implanted  deep  within  the 
tissues,  as  well  as  to  some  extent  on  the  surface,  repre- 
sent not  only  certain  factors  of  that  outer  entourage, 
but  more  particularly  the  events  of  a  ceaselessly  ac- 
tive, ever-changing  world  within  the  organism. 

As  we  shall  later  attempt  to  show,  the  phenomenon 
of  metabolism  may  in  a  sense  be  regarded  as  an  example 
of  adaptation  through  chemical  ceptors.  The  sensa- 
tion of  hunger  which  impels  man  to  eat  has  its  origin 
in  chemical  changes  and  is  manifested  by  muscular 
contractions  in  the  stomach,  which  in  turn  are  induced 
by  the  condition  of  lowered  nutrition  in  the  body. 
The  presence  of  food  in  the  mouth  is  the  adequate 
stimulus  for  the  secretion  of  saliva,  which,  passing 
with  the  food  to  the  stomach,  becomes  there  the  ade- 
quate stimulus  for  the  outpouring  of  gastric  juice. 
The  impingement  of  this  acid  mixture  upon  the  pyloric 
end  of  the  stomach  is  the  adequate  stimulus  for  the 
rhythmic  opening  and  closing  of  this  gate,  through 
which  the  partially  digested  mass  passes  into  the 
duodenum  and  in  turn  becomes  the  stimulus  which 
excites  to  activity  the  pancreas  and  biliary  apparatus. 
In  the  intestine  other  glands  are  excited  to  action 
through  the  excitation  of  chemical  ceptors  and  at 
last,  largely  through  a  series  of  chemical  ceptor  stimu- 
lations, the  whole  intake  of  food,  unassimilable  in  the 
beginning,  is  prepared  for  absorption  and  use  in  the 
organism. 

By  far  the  most  interesting  examples  of  the  adapta- 
tion of  the  organism  through  chemical  ceptors,  how- 
ever, are  offered  in  its  mode  of  defense  against  foreign 


CHEMICAL   CEPTORS  97 

proteins,  infection,  auto-intoxication  and  the  toxins  of 
pregnancy.  Invading  bacteria  and  the  chemical  prod- 
ucts of  their  activity  are  adequate  stimuli  to  certain 
chemical  ceptors.  These  mechanisms,  when  excited 
to  intense  activity  as  in  infection,  cause  a  breaking 
down  of  foreign  protein  molecules  without  breaking 
down  the  living  protein  molecules  of  the  organism ; 
and  by  this  means  the  standard  of  chemical  purity  of 
the  body  is  maintained  in  the  presence  of  infection. 
This  chemical  defense  gives  rise  to  the  principal  phe- 
nomena of  infection  and  auto-intoxication  and  will  be 
discussed  later. 

In  the  response  to  local  infection  by  phagocytosis 
and  the  response  to  general  infection  by  processes  of 
immunity  we  have  recapitulations  of  phylogenetic 
associations  of  a  vast  antiquity. 

Retracing  our  steps  down  the  line  of  the  animal 
kingdom,  we  note  that  the  chief  difference  between 
animals  and  vegetables  is  the  inability  of  the  former 
to  nourish  themselves  directly  from  the  environmental 
media.  Animals  cannot  transform  the  elements  of 
inorganic  salts  into  protein  molecules,  but  must  de- 
pend upon  a  previous  synthesis  and  assimilation  of 
those  salts  by  plants  or  lower  animals.  This  weak- 
ness is  exhibited  in  the  single-celled  amoeba  and  other 
protozoa  by  a  major  diet  of  bacteria,  almost  any  species 
of  which  they  will  envelop  and  attempt  to  appropriate. 
Against  this  offensive  activity  on  the  part  of  the  pro- 
tozoa the  bacteria  have  developed  a  counter  self- 
defensive  adaptation  in  .the  form  of  a  poisonous  secre- 
tion, which  kills  their  enemy  after  it  has  devoured 
them.  This  war  between  "host"  and  " parasite," 


98     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

thus  begun  in  the  lowest  forms  of  life,  continues 
throughout  all  species  of  animals,  and  is  waged  per- 
petually with  varying  success  for  each  participant. 
There  occurs  now  the  death  of  the  "host,"  now  the 
defeat  of  the  "parasite";  and  now,  again,  a  mutual 
compromise  —  symbiosis  —  which  is  of  benefit  to  both. 
There  are  many  interesting  examples  of  this  constant 
warfare  in  the  bodies  of  men  and  animals.  In  fact, 
infection  is  but  an  illustration  in  miniature  of  that 
great  principle  which  is  being  demonstrated  on  a 
larger  scale  throughout  all  nature,  namely,  that  it  is 
not  man  alone,  but  all  the  world  besides,  which  is  under- 
going "adaptation  to  environment." 

Symbiosis  and  Parasitism 

Out  of  these  reciprocal  adaptations  of  animals  to 
plants,  plants  to  other  plants  and  animals  to  other 
animals  result  some  of  the  most  characteristic  phe- 
nomena of  life.  Thus,  the  color,  the  shape  and  the 
nectar  of  flowers  are  undoubtedly  determined  by  the 
physical  forms  and  habits  of  the  fertilizing  insects 
which  visit  them.  On  the  other  hand,  the  proboscis 
of  the  insect,  its  wings  and  perhaps  its  sense  of  smell 
have,  in  turn,  been  evolved  by  the  existence  of  the 
flower  from  which  it  gets  its  chief  nourishment.  The 
nectar  of  the  flower  supplies  the  insect  with  the  re- 
quired carbohydrate  fuel  to  make  its  flight  —  that  is, 
the  flower  furnishes  the  motor  power,  the  "gasoline." 
These  interrelations  and  interdependencies  of  one 
organism  upon  another  become  so  firmly  established, 
after  a  time,  that  to  alter  their  status  quo  in  any  respect  is 
often  to  alter  the  life  equation  for  numerous  organisms. 


CHEMICAL   CEPTORS  99 

Thus  Romanes  mentions  the  extinction  of  white  clover 
in  Suffolk  as  a  result  of  the  destruction  of  cats.  The 
plants  were  dependent  for  their  fertilization  upon  the 
humble  bees,  whose  nests  fell  a  prey  to  the  rapidly 
multiplying  field  mice  which  naturally  profited  by  the 
destruction  of  their  enemies,  the  cats.  A  similar 
disturbance  was  unexpectedly  precipitated  in  Jamaica 
by  the  introduction  of  the  Indian  mongoose  to  de- 
stroy the  cobra.  In  Jamaica,  the  mongoose,  in  addi- 
tion to  its  natural  prey,  ate  the  eggs  of  the  song  birds. 
The  decrease  in  the  number  of  the  birds  immediately 
led  to  an  increase  of  ticks,  which  preyed  upon  and  de- 
stroyed the  cattle,  and  even  the  mongoose  itself.  In 
some  cases  such  reciprocal  dependence  of  living  crea- 
tures upon  each  other  for  life  is  so  close,  that  they  may 
be  regarded  as  compound  beings.  Darwin  cites  many 
instances  of  these  simultaneously  evolved  organisms 
among  insectivorous  plants.  Other  examples  are  the 
crocodile  bird  which  subsists  upon  pickings  from  the 
teeth  of  the  crocodile ;  and  the  rhinoceros  bird  which 
feeds  upon  insects  buried  in  the  hide  of  the  rhinoceros, 
while,  like  the  crocodile  bird,  it  pays  for  its  board  by 
taking  sudden  flight  at  the  approach  of  a  stranger, 
thus  warning  its  host  of  the  proximity  of  danger. 

If  men  and  animals  prey  upon  the  vegetable  world, 
the  vegetable  world  in  turn  preys  upon  the  animal  world 
through  the  medium  of  microscopic  life.  The  same 
co-adaptations  that  obtain  among  macroscopic  or- 
ganisms obtain  also  between  them  and  their  micro- 
scopic " parasites."  And  harmful  as  many  of  these 
adaptations  are  for  man,  when  the  trial  balance  is 
struck,  they  are,  in  the  aggregate,  of  great  benefit  ta 


100      MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

him.  The  fundamental  action  of  bacterial  life  is  the 
resolution  of  dead  organic  matter  into  its  inorganic 
elements.  Were  animals  and  plants  deprived  of  these 
natural  scavengers,  the  earth's  surface  would  soon  be 
choked  with  an  accumulation  of  the  dead  which  would 
ultimately  destroy  all  vegetable  and  animal  life,  includ- 
ing man  himself. 

There  are  many  instances  of  beneficent  bacteria 
without  the  body  of  man.  Such,  for  instance,  are 
the  bacteria  which  assist  in  replenishing  worn-out 
soil  by  absorbing  nitrogen  from  the  air  and  offering 
it  in  available  form  to  the  growing  plants ;  the  bac- 
teria which  accomplish  the  fermentation  of  wine,  which 
ripen  cheese  and  which  put  the  flavor  into  butter, 
which  tan  hides  and  which  cure  tobacco.  Within 
the  body  of  man  ample  opportunity  is  provided  for 
the  useful  domestication  of  bacteria  by  the  quantities 
of  dead  matter  and  deleterious  poisons  constantly 
being  thrown  off  by  the  living  tissues.  Wherever  on 
or  in  the  body  there  have  constantly  throughout 
phylogeny  been  found  unresolved  organic  elements  of 
food,  of  secretions  or  excretions,  there  are  found  also 
specific  types  of  " parasitic"  organisms  evolved  to 
utilize  the  debris  which  would  otherwise  have  accumu- 
lated and  hindered  some  important  function.  Thus 
we  have  bacteria  which  reside  normally  in  the  oily 
secretion  of  the  skin,  the  waste  matter  of  the  in- 
testines, the  mucous  secretions  of  the  mouth,  the 
nose,  the  throat,  the  lungs  and  the  genital  tract  —  our 
phylogenetic  scullery  maids. 

Of  all  these  scavengers  the  most  useful  and  perhaps 
the  least  appreciated  are  the  gaso-genetic  bacteria, 


CHEMICAL  -CWTGTEIS  101 

one  of  which  is  the  colon  bacillus.  By  the  production 
of  gas  these  bacteria  aid  the  peristaltic  movements  of 
the  intestines  and  the  movements  of  the  diaphragm, 
in  the  acts  of  breathing,  talking  and  vomiting  for 
which  resilient  abdominal  contents  are  necessary.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  probable  that  the  bacteria  them- 
selves have  had  a  selective  influence  on  the  modifica- 
tion of  the  intestines  and  abdomen  —  perhaps  even 
of  food  itself  —  to  meet  their  own  life  requirements. 
So  intimate  is  this  reciprocal  relation  that,  like  the 
insects  and  the  flowering  plants,  like  the  rhinoceros 
arid  the  rhinoceros  bird,  man  and  his  gasogenetic 
bacteria  form  a  strange  partnership  for  mutual  profit. 

Disturbed  Symbiosis  and  Disease 

These  symbiotic  relations,  normally  so  useful  to 
man,  may  be  easily  disturbed  and  cause  disease  or 
" infection"  -a  triumphal  adaptation  for  the  bac- 
teria at  the  expense  of  man.  It  is  but  a  step  for  these 
bacterial  residents  from  a  temperate  diet  of  cell  secre- 
tion in  time  of  health  to  an  intemperate  consumption 
of  cell  substance  itself,  when  the  resistance  of  the  host 
is  low.  Thus  the  diphtheria  bacilli,  normally  resident 
in  the  throat,  may  turn  upon  their  cellular  benefactors 
and  run  riot  in  diphtheria.  Thus  the  pneumococci, 
constantly  present  in  the  pulmonary  tract,  may  attack 
the  source  of  their  food  supply  and  cause  pneumonia. 
Thus  the  bacteria  of  the  nose  may  attack  its  membrane, 
the  secretion  of  which  they  subsist  upon,  and  cause 
a  cold;  or  the  colon  bacilli,  normally  resident  in  the 
intestine,  may  suddenly  attack  the  peritoneum,  when 
the  condition  of  the  appendix  is  such  as  to  reduce  its 


102-    MAN* --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

local  resistance,  and  may  cause  appendicitis  and  peri- 
tonitis. Thus,  syphilis  and  gonorrhea  may  have  origi- 
nated from  earlier  harmless  species  of  spirochetce  and 
gonococci,  which  at  first  subsisted  normally  upon  the 
specific  secretions  of  the  genitalia,  but  later  through 
adaptive  changes  became  abnormal  and  harmful. 
Notable  evidence  of  the  adaptive  origin  of  gonorrhea 
and  syphilis  is  offered  by  Ehrlich  in  his  observation 
that  the  spirochetse  grow  best  in  a  culture  made  from 
the  testicles  of  the  higher  apes.  It  is  also  noteworthy 
that  no  corresponding  diseases  exist  among  animals 
which  conjugate  only  at  rutting  time.  To  evolve 
a  species  of  microorganism  adapted  to  a  certain  food 
supply  peculiar  to  one  region  of  the  body,  would  re- 
quire, as  a  basis  for  that  evolution,  a  constant,  or  nearly 
constant,  supply  of  that  food. 

Phagocytosis 

As  the  bacteria  met  the  first  adaptive  attack  of 
the  amoeba  by  evolving  poisonous  secretions,  so  the 
higher  organism  meets  the  attempt  of  bacteria  to 
overcome  its  equilibrium  by  evolving  substances  which 
destroy  or  neutralize  the  power  of  the  invaders.  The 
most  primitive  type  of  these  chemical  defense  mecha- 
nisms to  be  found  in  higher  organisms  is  an  exact  analogy 
of  the  nutritive  process  by  which  the  amoeba  envelops 
and  digests  the  bacteria  in  its  environment.  This  is 
the  action  of  the  phagocytes,  amoeboid-like  bodies, 
which  move  from  place  to  place  in  the  organism  and 
envelop  and  digest  certain  substances  alien  to  the 
organism.  The  specific  habitat  of  these  peripatetic 
guardians  is  in  the  blood  and  the  lymph.  Because  of 


CHEMICAL  CEPTORS  103 

their  power  to  digest  waste  matter  in  the  body  they 
were  termed  phagocytes  by  Metchnikoff;  who  first  fully 
demonstrated  their  properties  and  who  designated  as 
phagocytosis  the  whole  process  by  which  certain  bac- 
teria, foreign  materials  and  the  dead  tissues  of  the 
animal  itself  are  destroyed. 

The  similarity  of  the  process  to  unicellular  digestion 
may  be  observed  in  a  sponge  or  in  the  larva  of  the 
echinoderm.  If  a  foreign  substance  be  introduced 
into  the  body  cavity  of  these  organisms,  cells  analo- 
gous to  the  leucocytes  of  higher  organisms  collect 
around  the  invader  and  prevent  its  further  progress  by 
fusing  into  a  hard  plasmodial  mass.  The  protecting 
cells  then  adhere  to  the  invaders  and  gradually  ingest 
and  absorb  them.  This  operation  continues  until  every 
particle  of  dead  matter  has  been  absorbed,  after  which 
the  protecting  cells  move  away  from  the  seat  of  injury, 
and  the  damage  is  repaired  by  normal  cell  proliferation. 
This  action  is  in  substance  that  which  takes  place  in 
the  human  organism  when  the  body  is  attacked  by  a 
local  infection  which  gains  entrance  through  an  exter- 
nal wound.  The  live  or  dead  organic  substance  serves 
as  a  stimulus  by  which  the  protective  activity  of  the 
leucocytes  is  excited,  first  in  the  local  area,  and  then, 
if  this  be  insufficient,  by  calling  out  the  reserve  forces 
of  leucocytes  throughout  the  whole  organism. 

Immunity 

For  the  common  daily  menaces  of  pyogenic  infec- 
tions, these  phagocytic  mechanisms  are,  in  the  main, 
adequate.  But  there  are  many  infections  which  can- 
not be  successfully  met  at  the  local  point  of  entrance 


104      MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

by  the  phagocytes.  Other  types  of  chemical  defense 
mechanisms,  therefore,  have  been  evolved  to  cope 
with  these  more  generally  disseminated  dangers. 
Like  the  simpler  process  of  leucocytosis,  the  action 
of  these  more  complex  chemical  mechanisms  shows 
a  schematic  resemblance  to  the  process  of  digestion 
in  its  more  highly  evolved  stages.  In  sponges  and 
hydrse,  for  example,  food  is  ingested  by  the  individual 
cells  lining  the  gastric  cavity,  the  food  particles  being 
taken  in  directly,  just  as  the  leucocytes  of  the  mammal 
take  in  foreign  particles,  or  the  amoeba  engulfs  its 
food.  In  higher  organisms  this  intra-cellular  process 
of  digestion  has  been  succeeded  by  a  process  differenti- 
ated among  a  number  of  specialized  cells  lining  the 
digestive  tract,  some  of  which  secrete  digestive  fer- 
ments which  in  turn  prepare  the  food  for  absorption. 
A  similar  modification  seems  to  have  taken  place  in 
the  means  adopted  by  the  organism  for  its  defense 
against  infection.  Thus,  while  certain  of  the  leucocytes 
destroy  bacteria  by  a  process  of  intracellular  digestion, 
other  cells  of  the  body  seem  to  be  excited  by  the  in- 
vasion of  certain  other  microorganisms  to  secrete  into 
the  surrounding  body  fluid  chemical  substances  which 
act  as  poisons  to  the  bacteria  or  as  neutralizers  of  the 
poisonous  secretions  from  the  bacteria. 

This  production  of  anti-bodies  is  in  every  instance 
essentially  a  specific  reaction  excited  by  a  specific 
chemical  stimulus.  That  is,  the  anti-bodies  produced 
in  response  to  an  invasion  of  diphtheria  germs  are 
specific  for  that  microorganism  and  useless  as  a  defense 
against  the  invasion  of  any  other  microbe.  The 
antitoxin  of  cerebro-spinal  meningitis  is  powerless  to 


CHEMICAL   CEPTORS  105 

neutralize  the  toxin  of  tuberculosis.  The  antitoxin 
of  diphtheria  is  inactive  against  typhoid,  erysipelas  or 
pneumonia.  As  Ehrlich  has  picturesquely  expressed 
it,  the  anti-bodies  produced  by  the  blood  substance 
in  response  to  infectious  invasions  are  "  charmed  bul- 
lets" which  strike  only  the  objects  against  which  they 
have  been  evolved  as  weapons  by  the  organism. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  same  law  of  natural  selection, 
which  has  built  up  a  system  of  contact  ceptors  in  the 
skin  for  the  defense  of  the  body  against  gross  material 
enemies,  has  evolved  a  system  of  chemical  ceptors  and 
specific  chemical  reactions  for  the  apprehension  and 
destruction  of  microscopic  enemies  within  the  organism. 
The  same  law  of  phylogenetic  association,  which  is 
responsible  for  the  muscular  reaction  of  defense  against 
physical  injury,  is  responsible  for  the  chemical  defense 
against  microorganisms,  and  against  all  foreign  protein 
material  whether  from  excessive  protein  food,  pregnancy 
or  infection.  As  a  physical  blow,  light,  heat,  cold  or 
tickling  supplies  the  needed  factor  for  the  release  of 
energy  for  physical  defense  through  the  excitation  of 
contact  ceptors,  so  the  injection  of  live  or  dead  bacteria 
or  of  foreign  protein  substance  into  the  blood  stream 
of  the  body  supplies  the  exciting  factor  which  calls 
out  the  activity  of  chemical  defenses  through  the  ex- 
citation of  chemical  ceptors.  On  this  important  fact 
is  based  the  theory  and  practice  of  serum-therapy 
and  of  vaccination,  by  which  diphtheria,  typhoid, 
smallpox,  tetanus  and  other  diseases  are  conquered. 

The  physician  who  contemplates  this  identity  of 
nod  association  in  the  infections  with  the  nod  asso- 
dations  of  physical  contact  will  call  to  mind  many 


106     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

facts  of  clinical  experience  which  confirm  the  parallel 
evolution  of  the  two.  It  is  noticeable  that  just  as 
natural  selection  has  established  contact  ceptors  only 
for  those  types  of  physical  contact  which  the  species 
experienced  during  its  phytogeny,  it  has  likewise  es- 
tablished chemical  ceptors  only  for  those  chemical 
substances  which  during  phytogeny  affected  the  exist- 
ence of  the  organism.  In  this  connection  it  is  inter- 
esting to  compare  the  physiological  response  of  the 
organism  to  a  dose  of  toxins  with  its  response  to  a  dose 
of  a  standard  drug.  There  are  no  well-known  drugs 
except  the  iodin  compounds  (analogous  in  chemical 
nature  to  thyroid  extract)  which  cause  a  febrile  response 
in  the  system,  and  there  is  no  drug  which  causes  a 
chill.  On  the  other  hand,  all  the  specific  toxins  cause 
febrile  responses,  and  many  cause  chills.  Had  man's 
progenitors  been  poisoned  by  a  given  drug  throughout 
the  evolution  of  the  species,  natural  selection  would 
have  eliminated  those  individuals  unable  to  evolve 
a  specific  response  to  that  drug  and  a  self-defensive 
mechanism  against  it.  The  administration  of  the  drug 
would  then  cause  a  nod  association  with  a  consequent 
reaction  analogous  to  the  reaction  which  follows  the 
injection  of  toxins. 

The  inaugural  symptoms  of  most  infections  repro- 
duce in  miniature  all  the  typical  phenomena  of  the 
ensuing  disease,  just  as  by  rapid  pulse,  increased  res- 
piration, trembling,  pallor  and  muscular  weakness  the 
phenomena  of  fear  or  of  anger  recapitulate  all  the 
physiological  phenomena  which  accompany  the  flight 
from  an  enemy  or  the  physical  combat  of  which  they 
are  the  precursors.  In  the  dullness,  stupor,  headache, 


CHEMICAL   CEPTORS  107 

and  loss  of  appetite  which  inaugurate  typhoid,  we  have 
a  picture  of  the  long,  slow  course  of  the  disease  which 
involves  the  digestive  apparatus  and  exhausts  the 
system.  In  the  thickened  voice,  the  difficult  breath- 
ing and  the  abrupt  high  rise  in  temperature  in  diph- 
theria, in  the  activated  alee  nasi,  the  rapid  respiration 
and  the  high  fever  of  pneumonia,  we  have  brief  sum- 
maries of  the  quick  and  desperate  combats  with  infec- 
tion which  are  waged  between  host  and  invader  before 
victory  is  declared  for  one  or  the  other. 

Undoubtedly,  each  move  in  these  fast  and  furious 
struggles,  or  slow  sieges,  between  man  and  his  micro- 
scopic enemies  is  typical  of  the  long  and  strenuous  bio- 
logic contest  which  has  gone  on  for  ages  between  the 
two  adapting  organisms  —  the  host  and  the  invader  — 
umpired  impartially  by  natural  selection.  It  is  rea- 
sonable to  believe  that  every  advance  of  the  human 
organism  toward  immunity  has  been  met  by  a  like 
advance  on  the  part  of  the  microorganism  toward 
a  more  effectual  attack  and  resistance.  This  is  evi- 
denced by  the  increased  vitality  of  certain  specific 
microorganisms  which  survive  a  curative  dose  of 
mercury  or  arsenic  in  the  system.  It  was  noticed  by 
Ehrlich  that  a  large  initial  dose  of  the  specific  drug  is 
of  more  value  in  destroying  the  spirochetaB  than  a  series 
of  minor  injections,  which  are  lessened  in  efficiency 
by  reason  of  the  fact  that  portions  of  the  culture  which 
survive  the  first  dose  become  adapted  to  withstand  a 
larger  dose.  The  desperate  struggle  of  the  organism 
in  acute  infection  bears  testimony  to  the  fact  that  the 
rules  of  fight  for  these  encounters  have  been  firmly 
established  and  standardized.  Man  and  the  acute 


108      MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

infections  are  old  enemies.  Organisms  strange  to 
each  other  have  no  rules  for  fight.  This  is  evidenced 
by  the  high  mortality  which  results  from  the  introduc- 
tion of  infections  into  countries  in  which  they  are  not 
indigenous,  so  that  natural  selection  has  had  no  oppor- 
tunity to  protect  the  organism  by  a  long  series  of  selec- 
tive struggles.  When  measles  was  first  introduced 
into  Samoa  by  Europeans,  it  wrought  a  cruel  havoc 
among  the  natives.  When  la  grippe  was  first  imported 
into  Russia,  it  ran  a  severe  course.  In  like  manner, 
many  of  the  terrible  epidemics  of  " plague"  in  ancient 
history  may  have  been  due  to  the  appearance  of  some 
new  germ  or  the  spasmodic  rehabilitation  of  an  old  one. 

Distribution  of  Chemical  Ceptors 

The  same  relation  which  exists  between  contact 
ceptors  and  their  distribution  in  those  parts  of  the 
organism,  where  harm-producing  agents  would  have 
been  encountered  throughout  its  evolution,  exists  be- 
tween chemical  ceptors  and  the  parts  of  the  body 
most  commonly  exposed  to  the  local  invasion  of  infec- 
tious agents.  Many  of  these  areas,  such  as  the  skin 
surface  and  the  superficial  organs,  are  identical  with 
the  pain  areas,  but  many  other  parts  of  the  body,  which 
are  totally  devoid  of  the  contact  ceptors,  are  abun- 
dantly provided  with  chemical  ceptors  for  the  appre- 
hension of  their  own  specific  menaces.  The  surfaces 
of  the  face,  the  neck  and  scalp,  the  extremities, 
the  eyes,  the  nose,  the  throat  and  the  lungs,  which 
have  constantly  been  exposed  to  pyogenic  infections, 
are,  as  one  would  expect,  well  equipped  with  pro- 
tective mechanisms.  The  lungs,  which  make  no  re- 


CHEMICAL   CEPTORS  109 

sponse  to  perforation  by  an  external  agent,  respond 
actively  to  the  invasion  of  pneumococci,  since  these  are 
ancient  enemies.  The  peritoneum,  which  throughout 
phylogeny  has  been  exposed  to  infection  through 
the  genital  tract  and  through  the  intestinal  walls,  has 
an  efficient  mechanism  for  overcoming  infection,  but 
makes  no  response  when  it  is  cut  or  burned. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  brain  and  the  lining  of  the 
heart  which  have  been  protected  as  securely  against 
pyogenic  invasion  as  from  physical- impacts  are  help- 
less in  the  face  of  infection,  as  the  external  areas 
are  helpless  before  the  X-ray.  Once  lodged  in  either 
the  brain  or  the  heart,  infection  works  its  way  pain- 
lessly and  persistently,  undeterred  by  a  local  resist- 
ance. The  same  inability  to  cope  with  the  infrequent 
invader  marks  all  deep-seated  areas  which  have  had 
no  open  connection  with  the  outside  world.  Thus 
below  the  surface  of  the  face,  neck,  chest  and  ab- 
domen, we  find  that  the  power  of  resistance  to  infec- 
tion diminishes  as  the  depth  of  the  tissue  below  the 
surface  increases.  The  great  vascular  trunks  buried 
deep  in  the  chest  and  abdomen  show  little  resist- 
ance to  infection,  although  curiously  enough,  when 
they  emerge  to  more  exposed  positions  in  the  thigh 
and  leg,  they  react  to  infection  by  swelling,  pain 
and  other  symptoms  of  inflammation,  as  do  other 
tissues  which  have  been  frequently  subjected  to  infec- 
tion from  open  wounds.  The  mediastinum  has  prac- 
tically no  mechanism  of  defense  against  infection. 
An  abscess  may  progress  unheralded  in  the  space 
between  the  diaphragm  and  the  liver,  in  the  retro- 
peritoneal  region,  in  the  mediastinum,  in  the  pericar- 


110     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

dium,  in  the  liver,  in  the  brain  —  none  of  which  has 
evolved  a  chemical  mechanism  for  defense. 

But  what  of  the  peritoneum  itself,  and  of  the  organs 
whose  functions  compel  them  to  maintain  communi- 
cation with  the  outer  environment?  Certainly  the 
peritoneum  has  been  constantly  exposed  to  infection 
from  without  through  perforation,  as  well  as  to  infec- 
tion from  the  intestines,  and  should  have  evolved  an 
effective  protective  mechanism.  Nothing  could  offer 
more  striking  evidence  of  the  fact  that  it  has  done  so 
than  the  phenomena  which  ensue  when  the  peritoneum 
is  infected.  These  phenomena  are  a  quick,  local  dis- 
charge of  free  fluid  laden  with  opsonins ;  the  formation 
of  an  adhesive  exudation ;  the  arrest  of  the  peristaltic 
movements,  in  order  to  prevent  a  further  spread  of  the 
infection;  pain,  incidental  to  the  fixation  of  muscles 
for  the  same  purpose ;  loss  of  appetite,  to  prevent  the 
intake  of  more  food ;  vomiting,  to  rid  the  stomach  and 
the  upper  portion  of  the  intestines  from  decomposing 
contents,  which  the  inhibitory  stasis  has  caused  to 
accumulate  —  the  entire  complex  response  being  ef- 
fected through  chemical  ceptor  stimulation. 

The  successful  defiance  of  infection  by  the  genito- 
urinary tract  is  well  known.  Here  the  uterus,  vagina 
and  fallopian  tubes  keep  constantly  open  a  dangerous 
passage-way  to  an  environment  laden  with  infection. 
The  gall  bladder  and  bile  ducts  and  the  pancreatic 
ducts  connect  directly  with  the  intestinal  field  which 
teems  with  infection.  Yet  through  selection  and 
adaptation  all  these  organs  have  become  qualified  to 
maintain  freedom  from  infection  under  normal  condi- 
tions. But  if  injury  to  the  lining  of  any  of  these 


CHEMICAL   CEPTORS  111 

tracts  lowers  the  local  resistance,  infection  is  at  once 
inaugurated.  Moreover,  it  is  in  the  pelvis  that  the 
defense  mechanism  of  the  peritoneum  against  infection 
is  most  marked,  being  more  efficient  here  than  in 
higher  portions.  This  is  the  natural  sequence  of  the 
many  hazards  which  have  been  encountered  in  the 
pelvis,  not  alone  from  the  accidents  of  childbirth,  but 
from  the  proximity  of  the  fallopian  tubes  and  the  appen- 
dix, infections  of  which  always  must  have  been  com- 
municated to  the  pelvic  peritoneum.  In  this  con- 
nection the  evolution  of  the  omentum  is  of  especial 
interest.  Just  long  enough  to  reach  to  the  bottom  of 
the  pelvis,  apparently  its  only  use  is  to  move  toward, 
envelop  and  localize  an  infected  point,  thus  serving  as 
a  most  valuable  guardian  to  the  whole  abdominal 
cavity.  In  its  perfect  altruism,  the  omentum  may 
fittingly  be  termed  the  philanthropist  of  the  abdomen. 

In  many  other  parts  of  the  organism,  and  in  many 
pathologic  conditions,  we  have  convincing  evidence  of 
the  establishment,  through  natural  selection,  of  cer- 
tain specific  chemical  reactions  adapted  to  the  biologic 
needs  of  the  organism,  which  are  equally  remarkable 
examples  of  its  inherent  ability  to  right  itself  auto- 
matically when  threatened  by  a  menace  from  an  inner 
or  outer  environment. 

These  specific  chemical  reactions,  of  which  blood 
coagulation  and  immunity  against  infection  are  among 
the  best  known  and  most  adequate,  differ  from  ordinary 
chemical  reactions  by  reason  of  what  seems  to  be  a 
kind  of  opportune  team-work  between  isolated  chemi- 
cal substances  evolved  through  natural  selection. 
These  substances  lie  dormant  in  different  parts  of  the 


MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

body,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  special  contingency 
which  provides  the  stimulus  for  their  interaction. 
Such  are  anti-bodies,  the  digestive  agents  and  the 
constituents  which  cause  blood  clotting,  each  of  which 
justifies  its  presence  in  the  body  by  the  specific  pro- 
tective activity  it  manifests  in  the  face  of  the  specific 
contingency  as  a  result  of  which  it  was  evolved. 

Mechanism  of  Blood  Coagulation 

The  mechanism  of  blood  coagulation  is  of  vital 
interest  in  this  connection.  The  blood  must  be  main- 
tained in  perfect  fluid  form  within  the  uninjured 
vessel,  but  any  opening  must  be  immediately  covered, 
for  if  the  flow  of  blood  could  not  be  stemmed  by 
clotting,  the  slightest  cut  and  many  normal  functional 
processes  would  result  in  death  as  a  result  of  un- 
opposed hemorrhage. 

Normally,  the  blood  contains  all  the  constituents 
necessary  for  coagulation,  and  in  addition  it  contains  an 
antagonistic  element,  known  as  anti-thrombin,  which 
inhibits    intravascular    coagulation.      A    neutralizing 
agent  for  anti-thrombin  —  thromboplastin  (Howell)  - 
is  contained  in  the  adjacent  tissues  and  in  the  outer 
layers  of  the  walls  of  the  blood  vessels  themselves. 
When  a  blood  vessel  is  cut  or  torn,  thromboplastin 
comes  in  contact  with  and  neutralizes  antithrombin  - 
causing  immediate  clotting. 

It  is  obvious  that  intravascular  coagulation  would  be 
a  more  certain  method  of  arresting  hemorrhage ;  but 
intravascular  coagulation  would  involve  the  danger  of 
embolism  and  the  danger  of  clotting  where  there  is 
no  hemorrhage.  To  meet  cases  of  extreme  danger 


CHEMICAL   CEPTORS  113 

there  has  been  evolved  an  additional  method  of  arrest- 
ing hemorrhage  by  a  rapid  increase  in  the  coagulation 
of  the  blood  when  the  blood-pressure  is  low ;  for  ex- 
ample, just  before  death  from  hemorrhage  the  blood 
current  is  feeble,  and  the  clots  are  not  easily  carried 
away. 

Low  blood-pressure  produces  anemia  of  the  brain, 
which  in  turn  occasions  fainting ;  thus  fainting  occurs 
in  connection  with  great  loss  of  blood.  Indeed  it  is 
probable  that  fainting  and  hemorrhage  have  had  a 
simultaneous  biologic  origin.  It  is  a  common  tendency 
of  both  men  and  women  —  of  women  rather  than  men 
-  to  faint  at  the  sight  of  blood.  Women  have  always 
been  exposed  to  the  disastrous  hemorrhage  of  child- 
birth, and  therefore,  more  than  men,  have  needed  the 
salutary  reaction  of  a  low  blood-pressure  to  arrest  the 
bleeding.  Acting  on  this  assumption,  I  have  clinically 
utilized  the  fainting  point  as  a  remedy  against  internal 
hemorrhage.  Patients  with  internal  hemorrhage  are 
propped  upright  in  bed,  or  the  blood  is  segregated  in 
the  limbs  in  such  a  manner  that  the  patient  is  con- 
stantly on  the  verge  of  fainting.  This  procedure, 
persisted  in  for  some  time,  has  in  three  instances  ade- 
quately arrested  internal  hemorrhage.  As  soon  as  the 
hemorrhage  has  ceased,  the  patient  is  allowed  to  lie 
down,  and  adequate  circulation  through  the  brain  is 
restored.  Fainting  never  occurs  in  the  course  of  acute 
infections,  such  as  peritonitis,  osteo-myelitis  or  typhoid 
fever.  It  may  occur  as  a  result  of  strong  emotion,  but 
its  most  common  incentive  is  the  telltale  sight  of 
blood.  Its  phylogenetic  origin,  therefore,  was  ap- 
parently associated  with  bleeding. 


114     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

If  the  mechanism  of  blood  coagulation  was  evolved 
through  the  biologic  exigency  of  hemorrhage,  usually 
from  wounds-  received  in  combat,  then  according  to  the 
law  of  phylogenetic  association,  we  should  conclude 
that  the  areas  most  exposed  phylogenetically  to  injury 
would  be  more  fully  equipped  with  the  elements  for  coagu- 
lation than  the  more  protected  regions.  In  other  words, 
we  should  expect  to  find  that  the  inner  parts,  less 
frequently  subject  to  laceration,  would  show  a  higher 
tendency  to  protracted  hemorrhage  than  do  the  com- 
monly exposed  areas  of  the  surface  and  the  extremities. 
Clinically y  we  know  that  in  general  this  is  true ;  that 
the  quick  coagulation  of  blood  in  the  superficial  tissues 
—  skin,  subcutaneous  tissues  and  muscles  —  is  in  sharp 
contrast  to  the  slow  coagulation  in  the  protected  fields. 
The  mucous  membrane  of  the  frequently  wounded 
mouth  fcleeds  slowly  and  heals  quickly.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  mucous  membranes  of  the  stomach  and  intes- 
tines, of  the  bladder,  of  the  fallopian  tubes  and  of  the 
respiratory  tract  show  a  tendency  to  bleed  indefinitely. 
Limbs  may  be  crushed  and  torn,  evulsed  even,  with 
less  hemorrhage  than  is  caused  by  a  slight  abrasion  of 
the  mucous  membrane  of  the  intestines. 

It  may  be  argued  that  the  quick  coagulation  in  ex- 
ternal tissues  is  due  to  contact  with  oxygen.  How, 
then,  would  one  account  for  the  fact  that  bleeding  in 
subcutaneous  wounds,  where  there  is  no  supply  of  oxy- 
gen, is  arrested  with  equal  promptness?  The  extru- 
sive laceration  of  blood-vessels  in  childbirth  is  quickly 
overcome,  whereas  nose-bleed,  with  all  the  advantages 
of  air  contact,  may  persist  stubbornly,  and  operations 
on  the  tonsil,  where  there  is  an  ample  supply  of  air, 


CHEMICAL   CEPTORS  115 

are  often  attended  by  persistent  bleeding,  while  an 
equally  extensive  incision  and  laceration  of  the  tissues  of 
the  mouth  results  in  little  inconvenience  from  bleeding. 
The  persistent  bleeding  of  the  lungs  in  pulmonary 
tuberculosis  is  well  known  and  is  in  accord  with  the  mea- 
ger phylogenetic  experience  of  this  area  with  trauma. 
Interesting  and  relevant  is  the  discovery  of  Sir  Victor 
Horsley  that  a  bit  of  raw  muscle  taken  from  an  ex- 
ternal part  and  applied  to  a  bleeding  point  will  quickly 
arrest  hemorrhage.  Of  interest  also  is  Cannon's  dis- 
covery that  the  blood  of  animals  in  rage  shows  a  higher 
tendency  to  coagulate.  Rage  is  the  natural  accom- 
paniment of  combat,  which  in  turn  is  the  biologic  set- 
ting for  laceration  and  bleeding.  Animals  in  rage  show 
an  increased  secretion  of  adrenin ;  and  adrenin,  accord- 
ing to  Cannon,  increases  the  tendency  of  the  blood  to 
coagulate. 

A  further  adaptation  favorable  to  blood  clotting  in 
a  lacerated  blood  vessel  is  to  be  seen  in  the  disposition 
of  the  slender  strands  of  connective  tissue  fibers  which 
form  the  outer  layer  of  the  blood-vessel  wall.  Injury 
to  the  vessel  causes  these  tiny  fibers  to  be  thrown 
athwart  the  rent  in  a  tangled  meshwork,  interfering 
with  the  flow  of  the  blood  and  constituting  the  foreign 
substance  which  always  facilitates  the  chemical  act 
of  coagulation. 

If  coagulation  be  precipitated  by  thromboplastin 
(Ho well),  then  one  ought  to  find  an  uneven  distribu- 
tion of  thromboplastin  in  the  various  tissues  of  the 
body  corresponding  to  the  variations  in  the  coagulation 
times  in  those  parts.  This  point  was  partially  tested 
in  a  research  in  my  laboratory  by  means  of  Ho  well's 


116     MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

method,  using  extracts  of  tissues  taken  from  those 
parts  of  the  body,  which,  clinically,  show  differences 
in  the  coagulation  times.  In  these  experiments  tissues 
were  taken  from  the  brain,  the  skin,  the  skeletal 
muscles,  the  buccal  mucous  membrane,  the  lungs,  the 
pancreas,  the  deep  lumbar  muscles,  the  heart  muscle, 
the  intestinal  mucosa,  the  thyroid  and  the  kidney. 
Although  the  data  are  insufficient  to  be  conclusive, 
the  results  recorded  are  in  keeping  with  clinical  obser- 
vations. That  is,  the  quantity  of  thromboplastin  in 
the  skin  and  in  the  muscles  was,  in  general,  greater 
than  in  the  pancreas,  the  deep  lumbar  muscles  and 
the  intestinal  mucosa.  These  facts  point  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  distribution  of  thromboplastin  through- 
out the  body,  like  the  distribution  of  contact  ceptors 
and  of  the  mechanisms  for  combating  pyogenic  infec- 
tion, has  been  determined  by  the  past  experience  of 
the  species  and  by  the  relentless  laws  governing  the 
survival  of  the  fittest. 

Acidity  and  Respiration 

Among  other  chemical  mechanisms  which  have  been 
evolved  for  a  specific  purpose  are  the  cerebral  mecha- 
nisms for  the  maintenance  of  the  normal  alkalinity  of 
the  blood  and  the  chemical  purity  of  the  body.  The 
most  important  receptor  mechanism  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  normal  alkalescence  is  the  respiratory  center 
in  the  medulla,  which  is  governed  by  the  H-ion  con- 
centration 1  and  possibly  in  part  by  the  oxygen  content 

1  The  alkalinity  or  acidity  of  a  fluid  depends  upon  the  number  of  free 
OH  or  H-ions  it  contains,  —  an  ion  being  an  electrical  molecule.  The 
degree  of  acidity  of  a  fluid,  therefore,  may  be  determined  by  measur- 
ing the  hydrogen  ions  it  contains,  i.e.,  its  H-ion  concentration. 


CHEMICAL   CEPTORS  117 

of  the  blood.  Increase  in  the  H-ion  concentration  of 
the  blood  stimulates  the  respiratory  center  and,  simul- 
taneously, inhibits  the  cortical  or  driving  portion  of 
the  brain.  In  part,  increased  H-ion  concentration  is 
produced  by  the  driving  action  of  the  higher  brain 
centers,  the  acidity  being  in  part  overcome  by  carbon 
dioxid  elimination  in  respiration.  Other  important 
acid-reducing  factors  will  be  noted  later.  Hence,  we 
find  an  antithetic  or  balanced  reaction  between  the 
cortex  and  the  medulla  as  a  result  of  changes  in  H-ion 
concentration ;  the  cortex  increasing  the  production 
of  acidity,  the  medulla  decreasing  it  by  increasing  acid 
neutralization.  Thus,  in  the  midst  of  an  activating 
environment,  the  normal  alkalescence  is  maintained. 

There  is  evidence  also  that  there  exists  in  the  brain 
a  mechanism  which  activates  the  organs  of  the  kinetic 
system  1  to  the  end  that  the  chemical  purity  of  the 
body  may  be  maintained  when  foreign  proteins  are 
present,  exactly  as  the  same  organs  are  driven  in  re- 
sponse to  contact  and  distance  ceptor  stimulation. 
These  points  will  be  taken  up  later. 

1  See  Chapter  VI,  The  Kinetic  System. 


CHAPTER  V 

ADAPTATION   BY   MEANS   OF    DISTANCE    CEPTORS  - 
EMOTIONS  —  MENTAL   STATES 

ADAPTATION  to  environment  in  some  species  of  ani- 
mals, such  as  the  oyster,  is  secured  mainly  by  reactions 
to  stimulation  of  the  contact  and  chemical  ceptors  only ; 
but  in  most  animals  there  has  been  evolved  a  third 
method  of  adaptation  to  environment  by  which  they 
are  directed  toward  beneficial  objects  in  their  distant 
environment  and  away  from  those  that  are  harmful, 
thus  securing  a  quicker  and  surer  adjustment  than 
would  be  possible  through  contact  and  chemical  cep- 
tors only. 

The  essential  difference  between  the  reactions  ini- 
tiated by  stimulation  of  the  distance  ceptors  and  those 
initiated  by  stimulation  of  the  contact  ceptors  lies  in 
the  fact  that  in  the  response  to  distance  ceptor  stimu- 
lation the  animal  as  a  whole  responds,  while  in  the 
response  to  contact  ceptor  stimulation,  usually  only 
a  portion  of  the  organism  is  concerned ;  consequently 
the  transformation  of  potential  into  kinetic  energy 
for  the  consummation  of  the  response  to  distance  cep- 
tor stimulation  is  much  greater  than  in  the  response  to 
contact  ceptor  stimulation.  Stimulation  of  the  dis- 
tance ceptors  initiates  the  long  series  of  motor  acts 
connected  with  the  search  and  fight  for  food  and  mates ; 
the  grappling  with  enemies  or  fleeing  from  them.  It 

118 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  — EMOTIONS     119 

is  by  means  of  distance  ceptor  stimulation  that  most 
herd  and  community  adaptations  are  affected  —  adap- 
tations which  were  evolved,  as  Sherrington  and  others 
have  shown,  simultaneously  with  the  power  of  loco- 
motion. 

Integration  of  the  animal  is  achieved  no  less  by 
the  inhibition  of  these  locomotor  acts  than  by  the 
consummation  of  them.  A  dog  standing  rigid  and 
alert  pointing  game ;  a  cat  stalking  a  bird ;  or  a  hare 
fleeing  before  hounds,  is  each  in  like  manner  activated 
through  its  distance  ceptors  to  assume  a  posture  or  a 
series  of  postures  of  the  body,  in  which  not  one  but 
all  parts  of  the  skeletal  musculature  are  concerned. 
Whether  it  be  to  impel  locomotion  or  to  cut  it  short, 
therefore,  the  animal  as  a  whole  is  activated  through 
the  stimulation  of  its  distance  ceptors. 

As  there  is  no  break  in  the  automatic  continuity 
of  action  between  the  incidence  of  the  adequate  stimu- 
lus for  a  muscular  reflex  and  the  production  of  a  pro- 
tective motor  act  specific  to  that  stimulus,  so  there  is 
no  break  between  the  incidence  of  the  environmental 
stimulus  upon  the  distance  ceptors  and  the  motor  activ- 
ity which  is  the  end  effect  of  that  stimulus.  The  flight 
of  the  giant  water  buffalo  at  the  sight  of  a  lion,  or  the 
charge  of  the  lion  at  the  sight  of  its  prey,  is  as  automatic 
a  reaction  as  is  the  withdrawal  of  the  limb  of  a  rabbit 
from  the  sharp  prick  of  a  thorn.  The  delicate  record- 
ing mechanisms  of  the  eye,  the  ear  and  the  nose,  which 
were  evolved  to  receive  and  transmit  to  the  brain  the 
specific  impulses  of  a  certain  range  of  light  waves, 
of  sound  waves  and  of  material  emanations,  meet  in 
the  brain  other  mechanisms  equally  delicate  and  labile. 


120     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

The  labile  mechanisms  in  the  brain  transform  some  of 
their  energy  into  nerve  impulses,  which  in  turn  excite 
or  inhibit  the  activity  of  certain  muscles ;  or,  even  if 
muscular  activity  does  not  result,  the  glands  whose 
activity  assists  in  the  adaptive  response  of  muscular 
action  in  running  or  fighting  are  stimulated,  while 
other  glands  not  useful  in  such  action  are  inhibited. 
For  each  adequate  stimulus  in  the  environment  there 
is  postulated,  as  we  have  already  stated  in  a  preced- 
ing chapter,  a  facilitated  path  or  mechanism  of  action, 

"facilitated"  through  natural  selection,  —  a  mecha- 
nism consisting  of  receptor,  conductor  and  effector 
paths,  and  for  convenience  designated  an  action  pattern. 

Thus,  by  infinitesimal  changes  in  the  length  of  light 
waves  are  produced  chemical  and  physical  changes 
in  the  rods  and  cones  of  the  eye,  as  a  result  of  which 
variations  in  color  are  perceived.  Thus  slight  varia- 
tions in  light  waves  result  in  the  perception  of  one  ani- 
mal by  another  and  become  the  adaptive  stimuli  which 
excite  the  action  pattern  of  fighting  or  of  flight.  In 
like  manner  are  excited  the  infinite  number  of  action 
patterns  by  which  man  responds  adaptively  to  en- 
vironment. As  in  the  case  of  the  muscular  reflex,  the 
occurrence  of  the  adequate  stimulus  acts  like  the 
pressing  of  a  button  connected  with  a  mechanism  by 
means  of  which  a  store  of  potential  energy  is  con- 
verted into  kinetic  energy  in  accordance  with  the 
phylogenetic  import  of  the  exciting  stimulus. 

There  are  many  facts  which  support  this  postulate, 
notable  among  which  are  the  anatomy  of  the  eye  and 
the  chemical  and  histologic  changes  which  take  place 
in  that  organ ;  the  specificity  of  response  and  the 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  — EMOTIONS 

modification  of  the  response  through  experience  and 
heredity ;  the  evidence  of  histologic  changes  found 
in  the  brain  cells  after  response  has  been  effected,  and 
in  the  eye  which  has  been  exhausted  by  intense  light ; 
the  fact  that  electric  energy  is  generated  in  the  nerve 
centers  and  flows  along  the  nerve  paths ;  the  fact  that 
the  response  of  muscles  and  glands  to  an  electric  cur- 
rent is  the  same  as  their  response  to  a  nerve  impulse ; 
and  the  conclusion  of  Crehore  and  Williams,1  that 
the  propagation  of  nerve  impulses  obeys  the  laws  of 
the  propagation  of  electricity  along  conductors  with 
distributed  capacity.  All  these  points  will  be  consid- 
ered later.  The  point  which  concerns  us  here  is  the 
fact  that  the  response  to  distance  ceptor  stimulation 
is  specific  to  the  exciting  stimulus,  just  as  are  the  re- 
sponses to  contact  and  chemical  ceptor  stimulation; 
and  that  like  the  latter  they  serve  a  useful  purpose 
in  the  life  of  the  species.  The  evidences  of  this  are 
the  gross  phenomena,  the  physiological  modifications, 
•and  the  histological  and  chemical  changes  which  are 
produced  in  the  cells  of  certain  organs  in  the  reactions 
to  distance  ceptor  stimulation,  all  of  which  show  that 
in  these  reactions,  whether  they  are  manifested  by 
muscular  activity,  by  inhibition  of  muscular  activity 
or  by  emotion,  the  entire  organism  is  integrated  to 
perform  a  physical  act  of  muscular  exertion,  indistin- 
guishable from  the  motor  acts  of  self-defense  and 
species  preservation. 

Muscular  exertion  is  produced  for  three  principal 

1  Crehore  and  Williams :  Electric  current  in  conductors  with 
distributed  capacity  —  considered  in  relation  to  the  propagation 
of  the  nerve  impulse.  Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  Experimental 
Biology  and  Medicine,  1914,  XI,  pp.  58-59. 


MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

purposes :  for  defense,  for  procuring  food,  and  for 
accomplishing  procreation.  Reduced  to  its  lowest 
terms,  each  one  of  the  reactions  concerned  with  these 
purposes  may  be  represented  by  some  form  of  motor  or 
chemical  activity. 

Emotion  a  Form  of  Muscular  Activation 

The  resemblance  between  emotion  and  muscular 
exertion  was  first  pointed  out  many  years  ago  by  Darwin 
and  other  evolutionists  who  have  given  remarkably 
accurate  and  vivid  descriptions  of  the  outward  ex- 
pressions of  both  major  and  minor  emotions,  showing 
their  likeness  to  the  acts  of  flight,  combat  or  embrace ; 
and  postulating  that  their  origin  was  simultaneous 
with  the  biologic  necessities  of  escaping  from  injury, 
securing  prey  and  accomplishing  procreation ;  and 
that,  like  language,  play,  song,  music,  etc.,  they  were 
evolved  as  highly  advantageous  means  of  expediting 
these  motor  processes.  In  his  book,  "The  Expression 
of  the  Emotions  in  Men  and  Animals,"  Darwin  gives 
the  following  description  of  fear  and  terror : 

"Fear  is  often  preceded  by  astonishment,  and  is 
so  far  akin  to  it,  that  both  lead  to  the  senses  of  sight 
and  hearing  being  instantly  aroused.  In  both  cases 
the  eyes  and  mouth  are  widely  opened,  and  the  eye- 
brows raised.  The  frightened  man  at  first  stands 
like  a  statue  motionless  and  breathless,  or  crouches 
down  as  if  instinctively  to  escape  observation.  The 
heart  beats  quickly  and  violently,  so  that  it  palpi- 
tates or  knocks  against  the  ribs.  .  .  .  That  the  skin 
is  much  affected  under  the  sense  of  great  fear,  we  see 
in  the  marvellous  and  inexplicable  manner  in  which 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  — EMOTIONS     123 

perspiration  immediately  exudes  from  it.  This  exuda- 
tion is  all  the  more  remarkable,  as  the  surface  is  then 
cold,  and  hence  the  term  a  cold  sweat ;  whereas,  the 
sudorific  glands  are  properly  excited  into  action  when 
the  surface  is  heated.  The  hairs  also  on  the  skin 
stand  erect ;  and  the  superficial  muscles  shiver.  In 
connection  with  the  disturbed  action  of  the  heart, 
the  breathing  is  hurried.  The  salivary  glands  act 
imperfectly;  the  mouth  becomes  dry,  and  is  often 
opened  and  shut.  I  have  also  noticed  that  under 
slight  fear  there  is  a  strong  tendency  to  yawn.  One  of 
the  best  marked  symptoms  is  the  trembling  of  all  the 
muscles  of  the  body ;  and  this  is  often  first  seen  in  the 
lips.  From  this  cause,  and  from  the  dryness  of  the 
mouth,  the  voice  becomes  husky  and  indistinct,  or  may 
altogether  fail.  ...  As  fear  increases  into  agony 
of  terror,  we  behold,  as  under  all  violent  emotions, 
diversified  results.  The  heart  beats  wildly,  or  may 
fail  to  act  and  faintness  ensue ;  there  is  a  deathlike 
pallor ;  the  breathing  is  labored ;  the  wings  of  the 
nostrils  are  widely  dilated;  'there  is  a  gasping  and 
convulsive  motion  of  the  lips,  a  tremor  on  the  hollow 
cheek,  a  gulping  and  catching  of  the  throat ; '  the  un- 
covered and  protruding  eyeballs  are  fixed  on  the  object 
of  terror ;  or  they  may  roll  restlessly  from  side  to  side. 
.  .  .  The  pupils  are  said  to  be  enormously  dilated. 
All  the  muscles  of  the  body  may  become  rigid,  or  may 
be  thrown  into  convulsive  movements.  The  hands 
are  alternately  clenched  and  opened,  often  with  a 
twitching  movement.  The  arms  may  be  protruded, 
as  if  to  avert  some  dreadful  danger,  or  may  be  thrown 
widely  over  the  head.  ...  In  other  cases  there  is 


124     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

a  sudden  and  uncontrollable  tendency  to  headlong 
flight ;  and  so  strong  is  this,  that  the  boldest  soldiers 
may  be  seized  with  a  sudden  panic.  As  fear  rises 
to  an  extreme  pitch,  the  dreadful  scream  of  terror  is 


From  Darwin's  "  Expression  of  the  Emotions  in  Men  and  Animals." 

FIG.  7.  —  HORROR  AND  AGONY. 

heard.  Great  beads  of  sweat  stand  on  the  skin.  All 
the  muscles  of  the  body  are  relaxed.  Utter  prostra- 
tion soon  follows,  and  the  mental  powers  fail.  The 
intestines  are  affected.  The  sphincter  muscles  cease 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  — EMOTIONS     125 

to  act  and  no  longer  retain  the  contents  of  the  body. 
.  .  .  Men,  during  numberless  generations,  have  en- 
deavored to  escape  from  their  enemies  or  danger  by 
headlong  flight,  or  by  violently  struggling  with  them ; 
and  such  great  exertions  will  have  caused  the  heart 
to  beat  rapidly,  the  breathing  to  be.  hurried,  the  chest 
to  heave,  and  the  nostrils  to  be  dilated.  As  these 
exertions  have  often  been  prolonged  to  the  last  ex- 
tremity, the  final  result  will  have  been  utter  prostra- 
tion, pallor,  perspiration,  trembling  of  all  the  muscles, 
or  their  complete  relaxation.  And  now,  whenever 
the  emotion  of  fear  is  strongly  felt,  though  it  may  not 
lead  to  any  exertion,  the  same  results  tend  to  reap- 
pear, through  the  force  of  inheritance  and  association.'7 
(Fig.  7.) 

Phylogenetic  Origin  of  Emotions 

That  fear  had  its  phylogenetic  origin  in  the  motor 
activity  of  efforts  to  escape  from  injury  is  the  conclu- 
sion also  of  Herbert  Spencer,  who  in  his  "  Principles 
of  Psychology"  says:  "Fear,  when  strong,  expresses 
itself  in  cries,  in  efforts  to  escape,  in  palpitations, 
in  tremblings,  and  these  are  just  the  manifestations 
that  go  along  with  an  actual  suffering  of  the  evil 
feared.  The  destructive  passion  is  shown  in  a  gen- 
eral tension  of  the  muscular  system ;  in  gnashing  of 
the  teeth  and  protrusion  of  the  claws ;  in  dilated  eyes 
and  nostrils ;  in  growls ;  —  and  these  are  weaker  forms 
of  the  actions  that  accompany  the  killing  of  prey." 

This  likeness  of  the  gross  phenomena  of  fear  and  rage 
to  muscular  activity  is  further  substantiated  by  com- 
paring the  aspect  of  men  and  animals  in  the  grip  of 


126      MAN  — AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


Photo  by  Paul  Thompson. 

FIG.  8.  —  ATHLETE  MAKING  A  RECORD  BROAD  JUMP. 
Activation  for  supreme  physical  exertion  is  wonderfully  portrayed  in  this 
figure  of  an  athlete  making  a  record  jump.    Compare  the  facial  exprc»i<>n 
with  that  of  anger  or  fear. 

strong  emotion  with  that  of  individuals  during  su- 
preme physical  exertion  when  fighting,  running,  jump- 
ing' or  seizing  prey.  (Fig.  8.)  The  accompanying 
photographs  of  athletes  during  or  immediately  after 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  — EMOTIONS     127 


Photo  by  Paul  Thompson. 

FIG.  9.  —  FINISH  OF  ONE-HALF  MILE  INTERCOLLEGIATE  RACE. 
The  last  stage  of  exhaustion  after  extreme  physical  exertion  is  well  por- 
trayed by  the  two  foremost  runners. 

the  strenuous  exertion  of  running  and  jumping 
(Fig.  9) ;  the  pictures  of  animals  attacking  and 
seizing  prey;  and  the  pictures  of  animals  and  men 
integrated  by  various  emotions  graphically  portray 


128     MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


Photo  by  Paul  Thompson. 

FIG.  10.  —  ATHLETE  BREAKING  THE  RECORD  FOR  SHOT  PUT. 
Supreme  activation  for  immediate  exertion  is  splendidly  illustrated  here. 
Contrast  the  expression  of  this  athlete  with  those  of  the  exhausted  runners 
in  Fig.  9. 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  —  EMOTIONS     129 


Photo  by  A.  S.  Rudland  &  Song. 


FIG.  11.  —  ANGER  IN  MALE  GORILLA. 

this  likeness  (Figs.  10  and  11).  Clinically,  we  know 
that  extreme  muscular  tension,  increased  heart  beat 
and  respiration,  profuse  perspiration,  staring  eyes, 
dilated  nostrils,  pallor  and  trembling  of  the  limbs,  are 


130     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


Pliuto  by  Brown  Brothers,  N. 

FIG.  12.  —  EXHAUSTED  SUFFRAGIST. 

The  end-effects  of  both  emotion  and  physical  exertion  are  apparent  in  the 
pallor,  the  staring  eyes,  the  dilated  nostrils  and  the  relaxed  muscles  of  the 
mouth. 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  — EMOTIONS     131 


Darwin's  "  Expression  of  the  Emotions  in  Man  and  Animals."          (From  life  by  Mr.  Wood.) 
FIG.  13.  —  CAT  TERRIFIED  BY  DOG. 

Note  the  crouching  position,  the  arched  back,  the  erect  hair,  and  ears 
drawn  closely  back,  the  bared  teeth  and  lifted  paw  —  every  muscle  tense  and 
ready  for  spring  and  attack. 

as  characteristic  of  fatigue  and  exhaustion  from  emotion 
as  they  are  of  fatigue  and  exhaustion  from  muscular 
exertion. 


132     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

The  expression  and  attitude  of  the  activated  and  ex- 
hausted Marathon  runner  differ  little  from  those  of  in- 
dividuals overcome  by  terror  or  grief ;  or  from  the  ex- 
pression of  exhaustion  portrayed  in  the  picture  of  the 
English  suffragist  who  has  undergone  both  psychic  and 
physical  activation  to  the  utmost  in  her  struggle  for  a 
moral  cause.  (Fig.  12.)  Were  only  the  faces  of  these 
persons  seen,  it  would  be  difficult  in  many  cases  to 
determine  whether  they  were  making  extreme  physical 
exertion,  experiencing  pain  or  under  the  domination  of 
anger  or  hate.  The  tense  rigidity  of  the  muscles  of 
the  face,  the  almost  inevitable  showing  of  the  teeth  and 
fixing  of  the  jaws  and  the  contortion  of  the  body  are 
alike  in  all. 

Moreover,  there  is  a  striking  similarity  between  the 
attitude  and  the  expression  of  the  individual  activated 
by  horror  and  the  frightened  cat,  with  its  back  hunched 
rigidly  in  apprehension  of  the  attack  of  a  dog  (Fig.  13)  ; 
between  the  athlete  making  his  supreme  effort  and  the 
eagerness  of  the  leopard  stalking  its  prey  through  the 
forest.  There  is  little  in  the  picture  of  the  exhausted 
runner  or  in  that  of  the  woman  prostrated  by  grief  to 
indicate  that  in  one  case  the  exhaustion  is  " physical' ' 
and  in  the  other  "mental." 

It  is  interesting  also  to  contrast  these  pictures  of 
individuals  exhausted  by  extreme  mental  and  physi- 
cal activation  with  those  of  animals  and  men  in  a 
placid  state  of  both  mind  and  body.  (Figs.  14  and  1  .">.) 
Contrast,  for  instance,  the  rigidity  and  muscular  tense- 
ness of  the  lion  attacking  its  prey,  its  claws  imbedded 
in  the  thick  muscles  of  the  neck  and  back  of  its  vic- 
tim, with  the  soft,  sensuous  attitude  of  the  tigress  caress- 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  — EMOTIONS     133 


Photo  by  Underwood  and  Underwood,  X.Y. 

FIG.  14.  —  VIOLENT  EFFORT. 

Photograph  of  the  head  of  a  runner,  sculptured  from  life  by  Dr.  R.  Tait 
McKenzie  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  after  a  careful  study  of  athletes 
in  moments  of  supreme  exertion. 


134      MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


..     * 
Photo  by  Underwood  and  Underwood,  N.  Y. 

FIG.  15.  —  EXHAUSTION. 

Photograph  of  the  head  of  an  athlete,  sculptured  from  life  by  Dr.  R.  Tait 
McKenzie  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  — EMOTIONS     135 


136     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

ing  her  cubs  in  the  quiet  shelter  of  her  lair.  (Fig.  16.) 
Contrast  the  contortion  of  the  faces  of  the  athletes 
with  the  composure  of  the  beautiful  woman  posing 
for  her  portrait,  and  activated,  we  may  believe,  by 
no  more  stimulating  concept  than  that  of  satisfaction 
with  her  beauty.  (Fig.  17.)  Contrast,  as  has  Dar- 
win, the  rigidly  hostile  attitude  of  the  dog  approaching 
a  stranger  or  an  enemy  with  the  fawning  attitude  of  the 
same  dog  approaching  its  beloved  master.  Contrast 
these  expressions  of  emotion  and  lack  of  emotion  and 
see  if  they  do  not  strongly  suggest  that  emotion  is  as 
definitely  a  form  of  muscular  activation  as  are  the  acts 
of  escape,  of  seizure  or  of  embrace. 

Further  striking  evidence  of  the  truth  of  this  assump- 
tion is  afforded  by  the  fact  that  fear  is  experienced 
only  by  animals  which  depend  for  self-defense  and 
species-preservation  upon  a  swift  locomotor  reaction. 
The  skunk,  for  example,  whose  chief  means  of  protec- 
tion is  its  odor ;  the  porcupine,  defended  by  its  quills ; 
the  snake  which  repels  its  enemies  by  its  venom ;  the 
turtle  which  is  securely  incased  in  its  shell ;  the  lion 
and  the  elephant  secure  in  their  superior  strength - 
exhibit  little  if  any  fear.  On  the  other  hand,  the  rabbit, 
the  bird,  the  deer,  the  horse,  the  antelope,  the  monkey 
and  man — species  which  have  ever  had  to  struggle  for 
existence  against  stronger  or  swifter  enemies  —  these 
are  the  animals  which  preeminently  exhibit  fear  and 
an  irrepressible  desire  to  flee  from  danger. 

Physiological  Phenomena  of  Emotion 

The  physiological  phenomena  exhibited  by  the  organ- 
ism stimulated  to  supreme  physical  exertion  through  a 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  —  EMOTIONS     137 


FIG.  17.  —  COMPOSURE. 

Contrast  the  impassiveness  in  the  expression  of  this  woman  posing  for 
her  portrait  with  the  contorted  features  of  athletes,  animals  and  men  under 
muscular  or  emotional  stress. 


138    MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

voluntary  impulse,  and  the  organism  experiencing  fear 
or  rage  are  identical.  The  Marathon  runner,  like  the 
rabbit  terrified  by  a  dog,  exhibits  the  phenomena  of 
increased  blood-pressure  and  heart  action,  increased 
respiration,  rising  temperature,  profuse  perspiration, 
staring  eyes,  trembling  limbs ;  and  if  the  activation  be 
sufficiently  prolonged,  muscular  relaxation,  dry  mouth, 
pallor,  indigestion,  prostration  and  finally  the  collapse 
of  every  function. 

Further  evidence  of  the  identity  of  the  muscular 
activation  in  emotion  and  in  physical  exertion  is  found 
in  a  study  of  the  physiological  and  histological  changes 
caused  by  each.  We  have  found  also  that  intense 
emotion  causes  increased  H-ion  concentration  in  the 
blood,  cerebrospinal  fluid  and  urine.1 

Histological  Phenomena  of  Emotion 

If  the  emotions  are  expressions  of  motor  activity, 
which  is  itself  dependent  upon  the  driving  power  of 
the  brain,  one  would  expect  to  find  that  emotion  pro- 
duces histologic  changes  in  the  brain-cells  identical 
with  those  produced  by  physical  exertion.  To  test 
this  point,  animals  were  subjected  to  acute  fear  and 
to  rage,  some  being  killed  immediately,  others  after 
varying  intervals  of  rest.  In  those  killed  immedi- 
ately, the  brain-cells  showed  an  increase  of  Nissl  sub- 
stance and  of  the  percentage  of  active  cells ;  while 
the  brain-cells  of  animals  which  had  been  allowed  vary- 
ing periods  of  rest  showed  uniformly  a  loss  of  Nissl  sub- 
stance, the  percentage  of  active  cells  being  decreased 

1  Drs.  Menten,  Rogers,  Harrison  and  Crozier. 


A.  Section  of  normal  cerebellum  of  rabbit.  B.  Section  of  cerebellum  of  rabbit 
killed  immediately  after  25  minutes  of  fright.  C.  Section  of  cerebellum  of  rabbit  after 
40  minutes  of  fright,  killed  after  2£  hours  of  rest.  D.  Section  of  cerebellum  of  rabbit 
frightened  twice  a  day  for  two  weeks. 

FIG.  18.  —  EFFECT  OF  FRIGHT,  ACUTE  AND  CHRONIC,  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS 
OF  A  RABBIT. 

In  B,  the  first  effect  of  fright  is  seen  in  the  hyperchromatic  condition  of  the  Purkinje 
cells  to  meet  the  increased  demand  of  an  emergency;  this  condition  being  followed  by 
chromatolysis  or  disappearance  of  Nissl  substance,  as  is  evident  in  the  cells  of  C.  In  D, 
the  lasting  effects  of  repeated  fright  are  seen  in  the  high  percentage  of  fatigued  and 
exhausted  cells. 


140     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE    MECHANISM 

and  the  percentage  of  fatigued  and  exhausted  cells 
increased.  (Fig.  18.)  The  brain-cell  changes  wrought 
by  emotion  were  identical  with  those  wrought  by  run- 
ning, by  fighting,  by  infection,  by  auto-intoxication, 
by  physical  injury.  In  intense  emotion  some  cells  were 
destroyed,  their  number  being  proportional  to  the 
intensity  and  duration  of  the  emotion.  The  cells 
modified  by  the  emotions,  but  not  destroyed,  were 
restored  to  the  normal  state  during  sleep. 

Having  established  the  histologic  evidence  that 
"work"  changes  are  produced  in  the  brain  by  emotion, 
it  is  necessary  to  identify  the  organs  the  driving  of 
which  exhausts  the  brain-cells.  The  two  organs  whose 
secretions  are  known  to  increase  most  markedly  the 
activity  of  the  body  are  the  thyroid  and  the  adrenals. 

Relation  of  the  Thyroid  to  Distance  Ceptor  Stimulation 

Fortunately  a  vast  number  of  clinical  observations 
shows  a  direct  relation  between  the  thyroid  gland  and 
the  emotions.  In  acute  emotions  —  fear,  anger  and 
sexual  love  —  the  thyroid  gland  frequently  enlarges 
and  becomes  more  vascular. 

Beebe  as  well  as  Aschoff  has  shown  that  electrical  stim- 
ulation of  the  nerve  supply  of  the  thyroid  results  in  a 
diminution  of  the  iodin  content.  It  is  known  that  the 
function  of  the  thyroid  is  dependent  upon  the  presence 
of  iodin  in  combination  with  protein  in  the  colloid 
material  of  the  gland,  from  which  it  is  probably  mobi- 
lized by  activating  stimuli. 

Why  may  this  change  in  iodin  content  be  regarded  as 
evidence  that  the  thyroid  is  activated  by  fear?  Because4 
the  only  proved  function  of  the  thyroid  is  the  metab- 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS DEMOTIONS     141 

olism  and  storage  of  iodin  in  a  protein  combination. 
Iodized  protein  injected  in  excess  into  a  normal  animal 
causes  most  of  the  symptoms  of  fear  —  palpitation 
of  the  heart,  rapid  respiration,  sweating,  trembling, 
emaciation,  inhibition  of  digestion,  staring  eyes,  wid- 
ened pupils,  increased  metabolism.  Iodized  protein 
causes  changes  in  the  brain-cells  identical  with  the 
changes  wrought  by  emotion.  Like  emotion,  it  causes 
also  a  lowered  sugar  tolerance  and  a  tendency  to  gly- 
cosuria. 

The  thyroid  gland  has  been  called  the  organ  of  the 
emotions.  It  is  the  only  gland  in  the  body  whose 
enlargement  forms  an  essential  factor  of  the  disease 
exophthalmic  goiter,  whose  phenomena  resemble  closely 
those  of  emotion.  (Fig.  19.)  Exophthalmic  goiter, 
emotion  and  the  excessive  administration  of  iodin  cause 
nearly  identical  phenomena.  Excessive  administration 
of  iodin  often  causes  a  pathologic  emotional  state  which 
cannot  be  distinguished  from  Graves'  disease,  and  in 
continued  overdosage,  iodin  may  even  cause  Graves1 
disease. 

What  rdle  may  iodin  play  in  the  acceleration  of  body 
activities  in  emotion  f  The  salient  features  of  emotion, 
and  also  of  that  emotional  disease,  exophthalmic 
goiter,  is  a  lowered  threshold  to  all  stimuli,  whether  of 
the  contact,  distance  or  chemical  ceptors.  The  organ- 
ism responds  at  such  times  to  the  prick  of  a  pin,  a 
hint  of  danger,  or  the  slightest  infection,  by  a  trans- 
formation of  energy  many  times  greater  than  would  fol- 
low the  same  stimulation  in  the  normal  organism.  The 
researches  of  Osterhaut  bear  significantly  upon  this 
point  and  would  seem  to  be  of  fundamental  impor- 


142    MAN  — AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


FIG.  19.  —  CASE  OF  EXOPHTHALMIC  GOITER. 

The  identity  of  the  mechanism  stimulated  by  physical  exertion,  by  emo- 
tion and  by  that  emotional  disease,  exophthalmic  goiter,  is  suggested  t>\  the 
facies  of  this  typical  patient.  The  Graves'  patient  is  physiologically  in  a 
chronic  state  of  activation  for  flight. 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  —  EMOTIONS     143 

tance  in  interpreting  both  the  emotions  and  Graves' 
disease.  He  has  found  that  the  addition  of  iodin  to 
water  in  which  kelp  had  been  immersed  facilitates 
the  passage  of  electrical  currents  through  the  semi- 
permeable  membranes  surrounding  the  component 
€ells  of  the  kelp. 

We  have  now  three  significant  points  for  considera- 
tion :  namely,  that  the  thyroid  fabricates  and  stores 
iodized  protein ;  thSt  during  emotion  iodized  protein 
is  probably  thrown  out  of  the  gland  in  abnormal 
amounts ;  and  that  the  effect  of  iodin  is  to  decrease 
the  resistance  to  the  passage  of  electrical  currents 
through  semi-permeable  membranes.  The  biologic  de- 
duction to  be  drawn  from  these  facts  is  that  in  anger, 
fear  and  sexual  love  it  is  probable  that  the  adequate 
stimulus  reaches  the  brain  and  there  causes  the  con- 
version of  highly  labile  compounds  into  electric  or 
some  other  form  of  transmissible  energy,  which  passes 
on  to  stimulate  the  thyroid  and  other  organs.  The 
thyroid,  being  stimulated,  throws  iodized  proteins 
into  the  circulation.  The  iodized  proteins,  reaching 
certain  semi-permeable  membranes,  diminish  the  re- 
sistance to  the  activating  current,  thereby  lowering 
the  threshold  to  the  specific  stimulus  and  making  more 
effective  the  specific  response  evoked  by  the  stimulus, 
as  a  result  of  an  increased  sensitization  of  the  whole 
effector  mechanism.  This  sensitized  or  iodized  state 
of  the  organism  in  turn  facilitates  a  correspondingly 
increased  driving  by  the  brain  of  every  organ  and  tissue 
in  the  body,  with  a  total  increase  of  energy  transforma- 
tion, which  results  in  fatigue  or  exhaustion,  according 
to  the  duration  of  the  activation. 


144     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Relation  of  the  Adrenals  to  Distance  Ceptor  Stimulation 

The  effect  of  driving  the  adrenals  is  to  produce  an 
increased  secretion  of  adrenin,  the  effect  of  which 
in  turn  is  the  production  of  many  of  the  gross  phenom- 
ena of  fear  and  other  emotions,  which  are  also  the 
phenomena  of  great  physical  exertion.  The  effect 
of  adrenin  upon  the  mechanism  by  which  heat  and 
motion  are  produced  in  the  body  is  immediate  and 
specific.  Adrenin  causes  an  increased  output  of  sugar 
from  the  liver ---the  chief  fabricator  of  the  body 
fuel  —  and  increases  the  facility  with  which  sugar  is 
consumed  in  the  muscles.  When  injected  into  the 
blood  stream,  adrenin  augments  the  vigor  of  the 
circulation,  increases  the  blood-pressure  and  the  force 
and  frequency  of  the  heart  beat  and  diverts  much 
of  the  blood  supply  from  the  internal  organs  of 
digestion  and  procreation  to  the  skeletal  muscles, 
the  lungs  and,  perhaps,  the  central  nervous  system 
(Cannon). 

Simultaneously  with  the  stimulation  of  organs  and 
tissues  necessary  to  motor  activity  and  the  inhibition 
of  organs  non-essential  to  motor  activity,  adrenin 
causes  erection  of  the  hair,  dilation  of  the  pupils,  wid- 
ening of  the  nostrils,  increased  activity  of  the  sweat 
glands,  acceleration  in  the  rate  and  alteration  in  the 
rhythm  of  respiration,  rise  in  body  temperature,  pallor, 
trembling,  dry  mouth,  muscular  relaxation  —  many 
of  the  phenomena,  in  short,  of  fear  and  rage ;  phe- 
nomena which  are  also  a  part  of  the  preparation  for 
an  act  of  supreme  muscular  exertion.  According  to 
Elliot,  adrenin  performs  every  function  of  which  the 


DISTANCE    CEPTORS  — EMOTIONS     145 

autonomic  nervous  system  is  capable,  except  that  of 
increasing  the  output  of  adrenin. 

That  this  physiologic  response  to  injections  of  adrenin 
is  equivalent  to  the  act  of  self-preservation  by  running 
or  fighting  is  made  obvious  by  a  detailed  examination 
of  the  significance  of  each  phenomenon.  The  stimulated 
organs  and  tissues  are  just  the  organs  and  tissues  that 
would  be  most  utilized  in  a  struggle  for  self-preserva- 
tion by  motor  activity.  The  heightened  activity  of 
the  brain  and  special  senses  facilitates  the  speedier 
perception  of  danger  and  preparation  for  it.  The  di- 
lated pupil  gives  a  larger  range  of  vision ;  the  expanded 
nostrils  a  freer  intake  of  oxygen  and  faster  elimination 
of  carbon  dioxid  to  facilitate  the  increased  transforma- 
tion of  energy  and  neutralization  of  acid  by-products. 
The  activity  of  the  sweat  glands  tends  to  regulate 
the  rising  temperature.  The  increased  activity  of 
the  circulation  provides  the  tissues  more  readily  with 
fuel  and  removes  more  rapidly  the  accumulation  of 
the  waste  products  of  activity.  Finally,  the  energized 
skeletal  muscles  consummate  the  whole  adaptive  re- 
action of  flight  or  attack,  since  it  is  through  these 
muscles  that  the  teeth,  the  claws,  and  the  limbs  of 
the  moving  organism  are  rendered  effective  in  any 
form  of  physical  exertion. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  inhibited  organs  and  tissues 
-  the  organs  of  digestion  and  procreation  —  are  those 
which  would  be  of  no  assistance  in  a  time  of  active 
struggle.  They  are  the  non-combatants,  so  to  speak, 
as  the  other  organs  are  the  active  artillery  of  the  body 
nation  at  war  with  environment.  The  digestive  organs 
are  the  kitchen  and  commissary  department,  the  in- 


111 


146 


DISTANCE    CEPTORS  — EMOTIONS     147 

dustrial  workers  and  homekeepers,  which  are  necessary 
adjuncts  in  time  of  peace,  but  excess  baggage  in  time 
of  trouble,  and  hence,  at  such  a  time,  are  deprived  of 
their  energy,  for  the  sake  of  contributing  extra  effi- 
ciency to  the  fighting  apparatus. 

Our  experiments  show  that  when  normal  rabbits 
are  subjected  to  intense  fear  from  the  threatened  attack 
of  a  dog,  the  dog  being  muzzled  and  not  allowed  to 
attack  or  to  chase  them,  the  blood  in  the  vena  cava  of 
each  rabbit,  taken  from  just  above  the  entrance  into 
it  of  the  adrenal  vein  will  show  an  increased  adrenin 
content. 

These  observations  are  in  accordance  with  the  find- 
ings of  Cannon  and  others,  who  have  shown  that 
adrenin  is  increased,  and  the  sugar  output  from  the 
liver  correspondingly  augmented  by  rage  and  fear  in 
cats.  (Fig.  20.)  On  the  other  hand,  no  increase  of 
adrenin  was  found  by  us  in  cats  which  were  frightened 
three  months  after  the  splanchnic  nerves  to  the  adrenals 
had  been  divided. 

w  There  is  abundant  clinical  evidence  to  supplement 
^and  confirm  this  laboratory  evidence  of  the  connection 
between  the  adrenals  and  distance  ceptor  stimulation. 
This  evidence  is  based  upon  the  fact  that  adrenin 
causes  an  increase  in  the  sugar  content  of  both  the 
blood  and  the  urine.  Clinicians  have  long  known 
that  emotional  excitation  causes  glycosuria.  In  cases 
of  diabetes,  the  sugar  content  is  increased  in  the  urine 
by  emotion.  Sugar  is  frequently  found  in  the  urine 
of  patients  undergoing  psychic  stress,  the  glycosuria 
disappearing  after  repose.  This  is  in  striking  contrast 
to  the  fact  that  sugar  is  rarely  found  in  the  urine  of 


148    MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

patients  or  animals  which  have  undergone  extensive 
operations  under  inhalation  anesthesia. 

A  comparison  of  the  effects  of  adrenin  with  those 
of  iodized  protein  or  iodin  makes  clear  at  once  which  is 
the  primary  and  which  the  secondary  glandular  reac- 
tion. Adrenin,  if  exposed  to  the  air,  is  oxidized  in  a 
few  minutes ;  in  the  blood  it  is  oxidized  as  quickly. 
Adrenin  acts  almost  instantaneously,  and  its  effects 
disappear  almost  as  quickly.  On  the  other  hand  iodized 
protein  and  iodin  act  more  slowly.  The  effects  of  a 
single  dose  of  iodin  are  not  seen  for  a  number  of  hours 
-  but  continue  for  a  day  or  more  even  —  as  do  emo- 
tions. There  is  no  evidence  that  adrenin  is  stored  in 
bulk  in  the  adrenals  as  iodin  is  stored  in  the  thyroid, 
but  there  is  evidence  that  adrenin  is  fabricated  as 
needed.  It  requires  more  tirfie  to  fabricate  thyreo-iodin. 
There  is  evidence,  however,  that  with  the  ebb  and 
flow  of  emotion  there  is  an-  ebb  and  flow  in  the  store 
of  iodin  in  the  thyroid.  These  facts  make  it  appear 
that  the  secretion  of  the  thyroid  determines  the  key 
in  which  adrenin  plays  the  itune  of  life. 

Relation  of  the  Liver  to  Distance  Ceptor  Stimulation 
In  addition  to  the  experimental  and  clinical  evidence 
that  chemical  or  histologic  changes  are  produced  by 
emotion  in  the  brain,  thyroid  and  adrenals,  we  have 
evidence  that  as  a  result  of  the  transformation 
of  energy  in  emotion,  histologic  changes  are  pro- 
duced in  the  liver  also.  As  a  result  of  any  in- 
creased energy  transformation  in  the  body  there 
is  an  increased  formation  of  acid  by-products,  with  a 
corresponding  increase  in  the  activity  of  the  mechanism 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  — EMOTIONS     149 


w 


A. 


B. 


Section  of  normal  cerebellum  of  Section   of    cerebellum   of    rabbit 

rabbit.  showing  effect  of   extreme  emotion 

(fright). 

FIG.  21.  —  PHOTOMICROGRAPHS  SHOWING  EFFECT  OF  FRIGHT  ON  THE 
BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A  RABBIT. 

Note  the  almost  complete  disappearance  of  Purkinje  cells  in  B.     (See 
arrows.) 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 


for  the  neutralization  of  acids,  a  primary  factor  of 
which  is  the  liver.  These  observations  but  confirm 
common  experience  and  the  specialized  knowledge  of 


150    MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

the  medical  observer  regarding  the  intricate  relation 
existing  between  the  function  of  the  liver  and  the 
emotions. 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  adrenal  of  rabbit.       Section  of  adrenal  of  rabbit  showing 

effect  of  extreme  emotion  (fright)  . 

FIG.  22.  —  PHOTOMICROGRAPHS    SHOWING    EFFECT  OF    FRIGHT   ON   THE 
ADRENALS  OF  A  RABBIT. 

In  B  note  the  widespread  loss  of  cytoplasm  and  the  disappearance  of 
nuclei. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 


The  evidence  that  functional  and  histologic 
are  produced  in  the  brain,  thyroid,  adrenals  and  liver 
by  the  emotions,  together  with  the  outward  manifes- 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  — EMOTIONS     151 

tations  of  emotion,  gives  convincing  proof  that  the 
response   to   distance   ceptor  stimulation  is  as  auto- 


A. 


B. 


Section  of  normal  liver  of  rabbit.       Section  of  liver  of  rabbit  showing 

effect  of  extreme  emotion  (fright). 

FIG.  23.  —  PHOTOMICROGRAPHS  SHOWING  THE  EFFECT  OF  FRIGHT  ON  THE 
LIVER  OF  A  RABBIT. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 


matic  and  specific  as  are  the  responses  to  contact  or 
chemical  ceptor  stimulation.     (Figs.  21 ,  22,  23.) 


152     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Explanation  of  the  Gross  Phenomena  of  the  Emotions 

In  the  light  of  this  evidence  many  phenomena  of 
fear  and  of  other  emotions  may  be  explained.  It  is 
known,  for  instance,  that  men  and  animals  under  the 
stimulus  of  strong  emotion  possess  an  extraordinary 
amount  of  physical  strength.  This  is  explained  by 
the  fact  that  fear  drives  certain  organs  and  inhibits 
others  so  that  every  particle  of  available  energy  is 
concentrated  upon  the  fighting  mechanism.  The  ad- 
vantage that  this  power  must  have  given  to  prehis- 
toric man  in  his  struggles  against  superior  foes  in  a 
wild  environment  is  apparent  to  any  one  who  will 
allow  his  imagination  to  revert  to  those  days  of  supreme 
physical  contest.  But  that  the  tendency  should  per- 
sist to-day,  in  spite  of  the  disappearance  of  most  of 
the  stimuli  to  active  physical  combat,  so  that,  at  the 
slightest  hint  of  danger,  man's  energies  are  drained, 
exactly  as  in  the  days  of  physical  struggle,  is  one  of  the 
misfortunes  of  our  insufficiently  adapted  state. 

So  strong  is  the  force  of  these  ancestral  acts,  so 
firmly  established  the  action  pattern  of  muscular  re- 
sponse to  the  fear  stimulus,  that  now,  whether  a  busi- 
ness catastrophe  or  an  attacking  enemy  threaten,  fear 
is  expressed  in  terms  of  the  ancestral  flight  to  safety 
or  fight  for  life  which  took  place  in  the  remote  brute 
period  of  human  history.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  by 
harnessing  the  forces  of  nature,  and  by  social  coor- 
dination, which  reduces  the  number  of  motor  reactions, 
man  has  progressed  vastly  in  his  methods  of  acquiring 
food  and  avoiding  danger,  his  body  still  responds  to 
threatened  moral  or  financial  disaster,  as  if  the  old 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  — EMOTIONS     153 

need  for  physical  contest  remained.  His  heart  beats 
wildly ;  his  respirations  are  quickened ;  he  trembles 
and  turns  cold ;  his  knees  shake ;  beads  of  sweat 
stand  upon  his  brow ;  he  is  pale  and  his  mouth  is  dry ; 
he  feels  faint  and  may  collapse.  Whether  the  cause 
of  fear  be  moral,  social,  financial  or  intellectual,  the 
result  is  the  same.  There  is  not  one  form  of  fear  for 
the  defaulting  bank  president  and  another  for  a  hunter 
facing  his  first  game ;  not  one  group  of  fear  phenomena 
for  a  mother  anxious  for  her  sick  child,  another  for  a 
friend  waiting  for  news  from  the  battlefield,  and  still 
another  for  the  soldier  facing  a  superior  foe.  In  every 
case  it  is  the  same  fear  —  fear  of  bodily  harm  —  ex- 
pressed in  terms  of  bodily  activation,  and  involving 
every  organ  and  tissue,  which  would  be  involved  were 
the  natural  phylogenetic  response  of  flight  from  an 
enemy  consummated  in  muscular  exertion. 

Although  there  is  no  absolute  proof,  yet  there  is 
much  evidence  to  show  that  the  effect  of  emotion  with- 
out action  is  injurious,  apart  from  the  actual  exhaus- 
tion of  potential  energy  and  the  increased  acid  by- 
products. It  is  well  known  that  the  soldier  lying 
under  fire  awaiting  orders  to  advance  suffers  more 
keenly  than  the  soldier  who  flings  himself  actively 
into  the  fray.  The  wild  animal  in  captivity  suffers 
more  than  the  same  animal  in  the  struggle  for  ex- 
istence in  its  native  woods  or  plains.  Many  wild 
animals  in  captivity  refuse  food,  sleep  little,  emaciate 
rapidly  and  die.  An  individual  nursing  a  grievance 
in  secret  is  measurably  improved  in  health  and  dis- 
position by  giving  vent  to  his  anger  in  physical  combat. 
The  presence  in  the  body  of  various  energizing  secre- 


154     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

tions,  such  as  the  secretions  of  .the  thyroid  and  the 
adrenals,  needed  for  physical  combat,  but  not  used 
in  emotion,  apparently  is  injurious. 

As  fear  activates  the  body,  so  all  emotions  and  psychic 
states  activate  the  body  and  exhaust  energy  in  propor- 
tion to  the  degree  in  which  they  represent  the  physical 
activity  attendant  upon  the  phylogenetic  forms  of  self- 
defense.  As  fear  recapitulates  the  ancestral  act  of 
flight  from  an  enemy,  so  rage  or  anger  recapitulates 
the  act  of  attack  and  in  like  manner  activates  the 
muscles  that  would  be  used  were  the  physical  fight 
made. 

On  the  same  hypothesis  love  becomes  the  representa- 
tion of  ancestral  conjugation  —  the  activation  of  the 
entire  motor  mechanism  for  copulation  without  action. 
The  phenomena  attendant  upon  the  emotion  —  the 
quickened  pulse,  the  leaping  heart,  the  accelerated 
respiration,  the  sighing,  the  glowing  eye,  the  crimson 
cheek  —  are  all  eloquent  testimony  to  the  activation 
which  may  become  a  definite  cause  of  serious  physical 
breakdown.  In  certain  circumstances  it  is  difficult 
for  even  the  experienced  physician  to  determine  whether 
a  patient  exhibiting  emaciation,  indigestion,  insomnia, 
nervousness  and  cardiac  irritability  is  suffering  from 
continuous  worry  during  a  prolonged  and  intense 
struggle  for  existence  or  from  unrequited  love.  The 
profound  transformation  wrought  in  the  entire  person- 
ality by  the  removal  of  the  stimulus  of  worry  is  equiv- 
alent to  that  wrought  by  the  consummation  of  love  in 
marriage. 

As  fear,  anger  and  love  express  the  motor  acts  of 
flight,  attack  and  conjugation,  so  the  emotions  of 


DISTANCE   CEPTORS  —  EMOTIONS     155 

anxiety,  anticipation,  disappointment,  grief,  despair, 
envy,  jealousy  may  all  be  regarded  as  lesser  or  chronic 
forms  of  these  major  activations.  Grief  is  defeat, 
the  epitome  of  desperate  but  unsuccessful  struggle. 
Envy  is  a  chronic  form  of  rage,  adding  each  day  a  little 
to  the  burden  of  waste  matter,  which  is  doubtless  suf- 
ficient to  account  for  the  " bilious"  aspect  which  is 
ascribed  to  the  envious.  In  like  manner  the  more 
abstract  concepts  involved  in  the  intellectual  processes 
of  logic,  invention,  mathematics  and  artistic  fancy  may 
be  explained  as  representations  of  the  primary  activities 
involved  in  the  creation  of  the  arts  and  the  sciences. 
Addition  was  once  the  placing  of  one  stone  upon 
another. 

Summary  and  Conclusion 

In  this  and  the  foregoing  chapters,  we  have  treated 
the  reactions  of  the  organism  from  the  usual  biologic 
viewpoint  only  as  manifestations  of  the  adaptation  of 
the  organism  to  its  external  and  its  internal  environ- 
ments. We  have  attempted  to  show  that  the  reactiqiis 
of  the  organism  are  specific  to  the  exciting  stimuli 
and  appear  in  an  order  of  sequence,  which  maybe  com~*\ 
pared  to  the  response  of  an  electric  motor  driven  by  • 
a  battery.  Pressing  the  button  is  the  adequate  stimu- 
lus which  travels  to  the  motor  causing  the  transforma- 
tion of  stored  energy  into  heat  and  motion.  If  the 
motor  and  battery  are  driven  long  enough,  exhaustion 
and  physical  changes  are  produced. 

It  is  necessary  to  realize  that  every  reaction,  by 
which  life  is  manifested  in  the  organism  and  adapta- 
tion to  environment  secured  is  the  result  of  the  trans- 


156     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

formation  of  energy  in  the  organism.  The  human 
organism,  like  plants  and  other  organisms,  is  funda- 
mentally a  transformer  of  energy,  this  energy  being 
derived  originally  from  the  external  environment  and 
returned  ultimately  to  the  environment,  in  the  form 
of  heat,  motion,  electrical  energy,  mechanical  work 
performed,  etc. 

In  the  present  chapter  we  have  considered  in  part 
the  action  of  this  effector  mechanism,  in  showing  the 
participation  of  certain  organs  in  the  production  of 
the  reaction  which  we  term  emotion.  In  the  succeeding 
chapter,  we  propose  to  show  that  a  system  of  organs 
has  been  evolved  for  the  specific  purpose  of  transform- 
ing potential  into  kinetic  energy  for  the  principal 
reactions  in  the  body.  This  system  of  organs  we 
propose  to  call  the  Kinetic  System.  A  consideration 
of  the  reason  for  the  evolution  of  such  a  mechanism ; 
proof  that  it  does  perform  the  function  predicated  for 
it ;  and  indications  of  the  important  bearing,  which 
a  knowledge  of  this  function  may  have  upon  an  inter- 
pretation of  medical  problems,  as  well  as  of  the 
phenomena  of  normal  life,  are  contained  in  the  follow- 
ing chapters. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    KINETIC    SYSTEM 

Function  of  a  Kinetic  System 

THE  adaptation  of  man  and  kindred  animals  to 
environment  is  secured  by  a  series  of  physical  and 
chemical  reactions  which  are  the  outward  expressions 
of  a  transformation  of  energy,  by  which  the  forces 
latent  in  food  products  that  have  been  appropriated 
and  stored  in  the  organism  are  released  to  produce 
heat  and  motion.  In  this  transformation  of  energy 
certain  organs  perform  such  prominent  roles,  and  per- 
form them  so  uniformly,  that  we  conclude  that  these 
organs  cooperate  as  a  system  whose  specific  function 
is  to  transform  potential  into  kinetic  energy  for  adap- 
tive reactions. 

Let  us  first  see  how  the  postulation  of  such  a  system 
in  the  human  organism  would  affect  the  roles  of  other 
recognized  systems  in  the  body,  and  the  parts  they 
play  in  the  conversion  of  energy.  Man  appropriates 
from  his  environment  the  energy  he  requires  in  the  form 
of  crude  food,  which  is  refined  by  the  digestive  system. 
Oxygen  is  taken  to  the  blood  and  carbon  dioxid  is  taken 
from  the  blood  by  the  respiratory  system.  To  and  from 
the  myriads  of  working  cells  of  the  body,  food,  oxygen 
and  waste  are  carried  by  the  circulatory  system.  The 
body  is  cleared  of  waste  by  the  urinary  system.  Pro- 
creation is  accomplished  by  the  genital  system.  Each 

157 


158     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

of  these  systems  in  performing  its  specific  functions 
transforms  a  certain  amount  of  potential  into  kinetic 
energy  for  the  accomplishment  of  its  specific  purpose, 
but  not  one  of  them  transforms  latent  into  kinetic 
energy  for  the  purpose  of  escaping,  fighting,  pursuing 
or  combating  infection,  which  are  essentially  adaptive 
reactions.  Obviously,  therefore,  none  of  these  systems 
transforms  potential  into  kinetic  energy  primarily  for 
these  adaptive  reactions.  The  stomach,  the  kidneys, 
the  lungs,  the  heart,  strike  no  physical  blow ;  their 
role  is  to  do  certain  work,  to  transform  energy  that 
the  blow  may  be  struck  by  another  system,  which  we 
believe  has  been  evolved  primarily  for  that  purpose. 
In  the  present  chapter  we  shall  offer  evidence  that 
there  is  in  the  body  a  system  of  organs,  which  we  shall 
term  the  Kinetic  System,  which  is  specifically  adapted 
to  transform  potential  into  kinetic  energy  for  the  pro- 
duction of  heat  and  motion.  The  principal  organs 
comprising  the  kinetic  system  are  the  brain,  the  thyroid, 
the  adrenals,  the  liver  and  the  muscles.  The  brain 
is  the  great  central  battery  which  drives  the  body ; 
the  thyroid  governs  the  conditions  favoring  tissue  oxida- 
tion ;  the  adrenals  govern  immediate  oxidation  proc- 
esses ;  the  liver  fabricates  and  stores  glycogen,  and 
is  the  great  neutralizer  of  the  acid  products  of  energy 
transformation ;  and  the  muscles  are  the  final  con- 
verters of  latent  energy  into  motion  and  heat.  While 
the  kinetic  system  does  not  directly  circulate  the  blood, 
exchange  oxygen  and  carbon  dioxid,  perform  the 
functions  of  digestion,  urinary  elimination  or  procrea- 
tion, it  does  play  an  important  .role  in  each  of  these 
processes.  In  turn,  digestion,  elimination,  procreation, 


THE   KINETIC    SYSTEM  159 

etc.,  may  be  regarded  as  aiding   materially,    though 
indirectly,  in  the  function  of  the  kinetic  system. 

Adaptive  Variation  in  Amount  of  Energy  Stored  in 
Different  Animals 

In  considering  the  evolution  of  such  a  system  in  the 
human  organism  two  points  demand  special  attention : 
the  amount  of  potential,  transformable  energy  which  is 
stored  in  the  animal  body  in  excess  of  the  needs  of  the 
moment ;  and  the  variation  in  rates  of  speed  at  which 
this  store  must  be  expended  in  accordance  with  the 
dictates  of  any  specific  adaptive  reaction.  In  general, 
the  amount  of  available,  convertible  energy  resident 
in  living  organisms  appears  to  be  proportional  to  the 
dependence  of  the  organism  upon  motor  activity  for 
survival.  That  is,  as  we  ascend  the  life  scale  from  the 
stationary  species  and  animals  protected  by  such  me- 
chanical contrivances  as  shells  and  barbs,  poisons, 
odors  and  emanations,  and  approach  animals  which 
depend  entirely  upon  power  and  speed  for  survival, 
we  find  an  increasing  need  for  the  storage  of  energy 
in  great  excess  of  the  needs  of  the  moment  and  for 
discharging  that  energy  and  overcoming  the  consequent 
acid  by-products  at  varying  rates. 

It  is  conceivable  that  plants  and  polyps,  which  make 
little  change  in  their  position  throughout  life,  have  no 
need  for  an  elaborate  kinetic  system.  The  snail,  the 
turtle  and  Crustacea  generally,  protected  by  their 
shells,  are  proverbially  slow  of  motion,  and  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  exhaust  the  small  supply  of  convertible  energy 
which  is  all  that  is  required  for  their  sluggish  routine 
reactions.  The  horse  and  the  deer,  on  the  other  hand, 


160     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

the  easily  excited  antelope,  the  spider  monkey  and 
certain  dynamic  inhabitants  of  the  sea,  such  as  the 
trout  and  the  salmon,  apparently  hoard  a  supply  of 
convertible  energy  far  in  excess  of  the  routine  needs  of 
feeding  and  multiplying. 

As  for  man,  who  is  just  emerging  from  an  environ- 
ment in  which  muscular  efficiency  has  been  of  para- 
mount importance  to  survival,  in  fighting  and  searching 
for  food,  in  fleeing  from  enemies,  in  building  safe  havens, 
in  pursuing  and  winning  mates,  and  in  accomplishing 
procreation,  the  need  for  variation  in  dynamic  expendi- 
ture is  obvious. 

Variation  in  Rate  of  Energy  Transformation  in  the 
Individual 

The  rate  of  energy  transformation  varies  not  only  in 
different  species  of  the  animal  kingdom,  but  in  individ- 
uals of  the  same  species,  and  in  different  periods  of  the 
life  of  the  individual.  Thus,  peoples  who  have  lived 
long  in  an  environment  of  natural  plenty,  who  have  had 
to  exert  themselves  but  little  to  make  a  living,  show 
few  and  simple  reactions  as  compared  with  the  more 
strenuous  members  of  continually  warring  communities. 
To  compare  the  natives  of  our  tropical  plantations,  or 
of  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Nile,  with  the  dynamic- 
tempered  Jew  and  other  urban-born  and  business- 
disciplined  inhabitants  of  seething  cities  is  like  com- 
paring the  turtle  with  the  spider  monkey. 

In  the  life  cycle  of  the  individual  organism  there  are 
both  long  and  short  periods  of  increased  activity  to 
which  the  organism  must  become  adjusted.  The  out- 
put of  energy  must  meet  the  varying  requirements  of 


THE   KINETIC    SYSTEM  161 

different  seasons  of  the  year,  of  the  long  cycles  of 
growth,  reproduction  and  decay,  of  the  unbalanced 
demands  of  consciousness  and  of  sleep,  of  health  and 
of  disease,  of  activity  and  of  rest. 

One  of  the  most  conspicuous  periods  of  increased 
activity  is  the  breeding  season  of  most  animals,  which 
occurs  in  advance  of  the  period  of  maximum  food  supply, 
that  the  young  may  be  brought  forth  at  a  time  when 
food  is  plentiful.  In  the  spring  most  birds  and  mam- 
mals mate,  to  the  accompaniment  of  the  increased 
activities  which  are  expressed  in  song  and  courting,  in 
fighting  and  flying,  in  quickening  pulse  and  increased 
temperature.  In  the  spring  the  chief  activating  gland 
of  the  kinetic  system,  the  thyroid,  shows  a  distinct 
enlargement.  Even  more  activation  than  is  repre- 
sented by  the  seasonal  activities  is  represented  by  the 
physical  act  of  mating,  when  the  thyroid  is  known 
to  enlarge,  and  life  is  on  a  sensuous  edge. 

In  like  manner  the  expenditure  of  energy  in  the  or- 
ganism varies  for  the  day  and  the  night ;  for  youth  and 
age.  The  full  tide  of  activity  and  consciousness  is  in 
the  daytime;  the  ebb  tide  at  night.  The  youth  is 
geared  at  high  speed  for  growth,  for  becoming  adapted 
to  innumerable  injuries,  to  bacterial  invasions,  to  het- 
erogeneous food  and  to  the  various  elements  in  his 
external  environment. 

The  period  of  greatest  energy  output  for  physiologic 
ends  is  the  period  of  reproduction.  In  the  female 
especially  there  is  a  period  of  greatly  increased  activity 
just  prior  to  her  development  into  the  procreative  age. 
During  this  time  secondary  sexual  characters  are 
being  developed.  The  pelvis  expands ;  the  ovaries  and 


162     MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

the  uterus  grow  rapidly ;  the  mammary  glands  develop. 
At  this  period  of  increased  expenditure  of  energy  for 
physiological  adjustment,  there  is  a  correspondingly 
rapid  growth  in  the  thyroid,  the  adrenals  and  the 
hypophysis.  Without  the  normal  development  of  the 
adrenals,  the  thyroid  and  the  hypophysis,  neither  the 
male  nor  the  female  can  develop  secondary  sexual  char- 
acteristics, show  sexual  desire,  seasonal  cycles  of  activ- 
ity or  power  to  procreate.  On  the  other  hand,  all  these 
phenomena  —  secondary  sexual  characters,  sexual  de- 
sire, fertility  —  can  be  created  in  the  organism  by  feed- 
ing the  thyroid  products  of  an  alien  species  to  the 
individual  deprived  of  a  thyroid. 

At  the  close  of  the  child-bearing  period  there  is  a 
permanent  diminution  in  the  rate  of  energy  conversion, 
consistent  with  the  fact  that  energy  is  no  longer  needed 
for  procreation  and  that  less  is  required  for  self- 
preservation.  Unless  other  factors  intervene,  this  re- 
duction in  the  rate  of  energy  transformation,  together 
with  a  corresponding  reduction  in  the  size  of  the  thyroid 
gland,  is  progressive  until  senescent  death. 

The  Purpose  and  the  Mechanism  of  Heat  Production 

As  the  organism  transforms  potential  into  kinetic 
energy  for  the  production  of  these  various  types  of 
visible  and  invisible  motion,  so  it  transforms  energy  for 
the  adaptive  reaction  of  heat.1  A  by-production  of 
heat  always  accompanies  every  production  of  muscular 
activity  in  the  human  body,  but  that  this  is  not  a  use- 
ful adaptation  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  a 

1  The  terms  "heat"  and  "muscular  action"  are  not  used  here  in 
a  purely  physical  sense,  but  to  designate  physiological  phenomena. 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM  163 

mechanism  for  heat  elimination  (sweating)  is  stimulated 
simultaneously  with  the  initiation  of  muscular  or  emo- 
tional activation.  Heat  as  a  by-product  of  muscular 
action,  therefore,  does  not  concern  us,  but  rather  heat 
as  an  adaptive  defense  against  foreign  proteins  and 
infection.  Vaughn  has  shown  that  the  presence  in  the 
body  of  any  alien  protein  causes  an  increased  produc- 
tion of  heat,  and  that  there  is  no  difference  between  the 
production  of  fever  by  foreign  proteins  and  by  infection. 
Before  the  day  of  the  hypodermic  needle  and  of  experi- 
mental medicine,  the  foreign  proteins  found  in  the  body 
outside  of  the  alimentary  tract  were  brought  in  by  in- 
vading microorganisms.  Such  organisms  interfered 
with  life  and  often  destroyed  the  host.  To  attain 
survival,  therefore,  the  body  was  forced  to  evolve  a 
defense  against  these  menaces. 

That  the  production  of  fever  is  a  protective  adaptive 
response  is  rendered  probable  by  the  following  facts : 
First,  and  of  minor  importance,  bacteriologists  have 
shown  that  pathogenic  bacteria  grow  best  at  the  nor- 
mal temperature  of  the  human  body,  and  that  any 
increase  in  temperature  has  a  tendency  to  hinder  the 
growth  and  in  some  instances  to  kill  the  invading 
organisms.  Second,  either  living  or  dead  foreign  pro- 
teins may  be  split  up  and  cast  off,  just  as  excessive 
protein  food  is  broken  down  and  cast  off  from  the 
body.  The  organism  is  protected  against  self-destruc- 
tion in  this  splitting-up  process  by  its  specific  adapta- 
tion for  withstanding  the  agency  (excessive  metabolism) 
which  accomplishes  this  chemical  purification.  That 
chemical  purification  is  facilitated  by  the  production 
of  fever  is  suggested  by  the  fact  that  with  each  rise  in 


164     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

temperature  of  one  degree  centigrade  the  metabolic 
activity  in  the  body  is  increased  ten  per  cent.  This 
increase  in  the  expenditure  of  energy  is  not  compen- 
sated by  an  increased  intake  of  food,  since  in  acute 
infection  there  is  aversion  to  food  and  often  vomiting. 
In  infection,  as  in  fear,  therefore,  it  would  seem  as  if 
the  combined  resources  of  the  body  were  concentrated 
upon  the  effort  at  chemical  self-defense ;  and  in  the 
furious  combustion  to  attain  this  end  the  host  himself 
is  often  destroyed. 

We  assume  that  the  mechanism  which  transforms 
potential  energy  into  kinetic  energy  to  produce  muscu- 
lar action  is  the  brain-muscular  apparatus,  assisted  by 
the  activating  and  accelerating  organs,  the  thyroid  and 
the  adrenals.  We  postulate  that  the  mechanism  which 
produces  muscular  action  and  emotion  is  the  same  as 
the  mechanism  which  generates  heat,  maintains  con- 
sciousness, and  causes  the  splitting  up  of  foreign  pro- 
teins by  which  the  chemical  purity  of  the  body  is 
maintained.  Unless  this  be  true,  our  argument  for  a 
kinetic  system  fails. 

Histologic  Changes  in  the  Brain,  the  Liver  and  the  Adre- 
nals in  Relation  to  Transformation  of  Energy 

If  the  brain,  the  thyroid,  the  adrenals,  the  liver  and 
the  muscles  work  together  in  transforming  potential 
into  kinetic  energy  for  the  adaptive  reactions  of  heat 
and  motion,  we  should  find  similar  changes  in  these 
organs  whatever  may  be  the  purpose  of  the  conversion 
of  energy  —  whether  for  the  production  of  motion  in 
running  or  fighting  or  for  the  production  of  heat  in 
combating  infection.  We  should  find  also  that  these 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM  165 

changes  are  the  result  of  the  activating  stimuli  causing 
the  reactions,  or  of  the  effort  to  reestablish  the  normal 
standard  of  chemical  purity  after  the  reactions ;  and 
that  the  generation  of  heat  and  motion  does  not  pro- 
duce equivalent  changes  in  other  organs  and  tissues  of 
the  body.  If  our  premise  be  sound,  these  changes  in 
the  organs  of  the  kinetic  system  would  accompany  the 
transformation  of  energy  necessary  for  the  routine  con- 
duct of  the  body,  as  well  as  for  the  additional  drafts  of 
energy  required  for  " emergency"  reactions.  That  is, 
the  transformation  of  energy  is  necessary  for  the  rnere 
maintenance  of  consciousness  and  a  normal  body  tem- 
perature, as  well  as  for  the  production  of  motor  activity 
in  physical  exertion,  in  fighting  and  in  combating  in- 
fection. 

To  test  these  points  we  planned  an  experiment  whose 
purpose  was  to  apprehend  as  in  a  net  the  active  partici- 
pants in  the  process  of  energy  transformation  as  far  as 
histologic  changes  could  show  them.  Groups  of  rabbits 
were  kept  awake  continuously  from  90  to  112  hours  by 
relays  of  students.  They  were  given  abundant  food  and 
water  and  were  subjected  to  no  physical  violence, 
fear,  drugs  or  infection.  Their  external  and  their  in- 
ternal environments  were  normal  excepting  that  they 
were  not  allowed  to  sleep.  At  the  end  of  the  periods 
of  insomnia  all  the  animals  were  exhausted,  some  to 
the  point  of  death.  All  were  killed,  some  immediately, 
others  after  varying  periods  of  rest ;  and  every  organ 
and  tissue  in  the  body  was  examined  for  histologic  changes. 
In  some  cases  observations  of  the  H-ion  concentration 
of  the  blood  were  made.  Some  animals  were  given 
nitrous  oxid  anesthesia  as  a  substitute  for  sleep.  To 


166     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

determine  whether  or  not  the  lesions  in  the  brain,  the 
adrenals  and  the  liver  caused  by  exhaustion  could  be 
repaired  by  rest  without  sleep,  other  animals  were  first 
fatigued  by  physical  exertion  and  then  kept  awake 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  cerebellum  of         Section  of  cerebellum  of  rabbit  after 
rabbit.  insomnia  —  100  hours. 

FIG.  24.  —  PHOTOMICROGRAPHS  SHOWING  THE  EFFECT  OF  INSOMNIA  —  100 
HOURS  —  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A  RABBIT. 

Compare  the  well-stained  clearly  defined  Purkinje  cells  along  the  margins 
of  section  A  with  the  faint  traces  of  the  Purkinje  cells  which  are  barely 
visible  along  the  margins  of  section  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  100.) 

for  eight  hours,  their  tissues  being  compared  with  those 
of  similarly  fatigued  animals  which  were  allowed  imme- 
diate sleep.  In  every  case  we  made  histologic  examina- 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM 


167 


Section  of  normal  adrenal  of  rabbit. 


Section  of  adrenal  of  rabbit  after 
insomnia  — 100  hours. 


FIG.  25.  —  PHOTOMICROGRAPHS  SHOWING  THE  EFFECT  OF  INSOMNIA  —  100 

HOURS  —  ON  THE  ADRENALS  OF  A  RABBIT. 

Compare  A  and  B,  noting  in  the  latter  the  disappearance  of  cytoplasm, 
the  loss  of  some  nuclei  and  the  generally  disorganized  appearance  of  the  cells. 
(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

tions  of  the  brain,  the  hypophysis,  the  salivary  glands, 
the  thyroid,  the  parathyroids,  the  thymus,  the  lym- 
phatic glands,  the  lungs,  the  heart,  the  liver,  the  pan- 
creas, the  stomach,  the  intestines,  the  spleen,  the 


168     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

adrenals,  the  sex  organs,  the  kidneys,  the  bone  marrow, 
the  blood  and  the  muscles.  As  compared  with  the  cor- 
responding tissues  of  normal  animals,  all  these  organs 


A. 


Section  of  normal  liver  of  rabbit.          Section  of  liver  of  rabbit  after 

insomnia  —  100  hours. 

FIG.  26.  —  PHOTOMICROGRAPHS  SHOWING  THE  EFFECT  OF  INSOMNIA  —  100 
HOURS  —  ON  THE  LIVER  OF  A  RABBIT. 

Compare  A  and  B,  noting  the  vacuolated  spaces  and  general  loss  of  cyto- 
plasm in  the  latter. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

and  tissues  were  normal  with  three  exceptions.  The 
brain,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver  alone  showed 
marked  and  widespread  histologic  changes  as  a  result 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM  169 

of  the  prolonged  consciousness.  (Figs.  24,  25,  26.)  In 
the  animals  which  were  allowed  eight  hours  of  sleep  at 
the  close  of  the  period  of  insomnia  these  organs  were 


A. 

Section  of  normal  cerebellum  of  cat.    Section  of  cerebellum  of  cat  showing 

effect  of  extreme  physical  exertion. 

FIG.  27.  —  PHOTOMICROGRAPHS  SHOWING  THE  EFFECT  OF  EXERTION  ON 

THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A  CAT. 

Note  the  general  disintegration  of  the  Purkinje  cells  in  B. 
(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

restored  to  their  normal  histologic  condition  with  the 
exception  of  some  cells  in  the  brain  and  the  liver  which 
had  been  irreparably  damaged. 


170    MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Another  group  of  animals,  kept  awake  for  from  90 
to  112  hours,  instead  of  being  allowed  to  sleep  naturally, 
were  placed  for  eight  hours  under  nitrous  oxid  anesthe- 


A. 

Section  of  normal  adrenal  of  cat. 


B. 

Section  of  adrenal  of  cat  showing 
effect  of  extreme  physical  exertion. 


FIG.  28.  —  PHOTOMICROGRAPHS  SHOWING  THE  EFFECT  OF  EXERTION  ON 
THE  ADRENALS  OF  A  CAT. 

In  B,  note  the  general  loss  of  cytoplasm  and  the  disappearance  of  many 
nuclei. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 


sia.  Of  the  brain  cells  of  these  animals  ninety  per  cent 
were  found  to  be  hyper  chromatic,  resembling  closely 
the  abnormally  large  percentage  of  hyperchromatic 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM  171 

cells  in  the  brains  of  hibernating  woodchucks ;   but  the 
percentage  of  exhausted  cells  was  increased  also. 

Having  noted  the  effect  of  exhaustion  by  insomnia 
upon  the  brain,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver,  we  repeated 
the  investigation  in  other  typical  cases  of  exhaustion 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  liver  of  cat.        Section  of  liver  of  cat  showing  effect 

of  extreme  physical  exertion. 

FIG.   29.  —  PHOTOMICROGRAPHS  SHOWING  THE  EFFECT  OF  EXERTION  ON 
THE  LIVER  OF  A  CAT. 

In  B,  note  the  vacuolated  spaces  and  the  disappearance  of  many  nuclei. 
(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

by  physical  and  chemical  stimuli.  We  examined  the 
organs  of  animals  exhausted  by  the  muscular  work  of 
running  and  fighting  (Figs.  27,  28,  29) ;  the  organs  of 
foxes  chased  by  hounds ;  of  dogs  and  woodchucks  ex- 


172     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

hausted  by  fighting;  of  electric  fish  before  and  after 
electric  discharge ;  of  salmon  before  and  after  their 
exhausting  run  up  the  Columbia  River  to  their  spawn- 
ing beds.  (Figs.  30,  31,  32.)  We  examined  the  organs 


•     N 

P     < 


A.  B. 

Cerebellum  of  salmon  from  ocean.      Cerebellum  of  salmon  from  head- 
waters of  Columbia  River. 

FIG.  30.  —  EFFECT  OF  A  LONG  SWIM  ON  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A  SALMON. 

Exhaustion  is  shown  by  the  disappearance  of  chromatic  material  from 
the  Purkinje  cells  in  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

of  animals  exhausted  by  excessive  emotional  excitation ; 
of  animals  exhausted  by  strychnin  convulsions ;  of 
animals  to  which  had  been  given  alcohol,  nicotin, 
morphia,  scopolomin,  ether  and  nitrous  oxid  ;  of  animals 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM 


173 


subjected  to  injections  of  colon,  tetanus,  diphtheria 
and  typhoid  'bacilli  and  to  the  toxins  of  gonococci, 
streptococci  and  staphylococci ;  of  animals  activated 
by  injections  of  indol,  skatol,  leucin  and  creatin  (Figs. 
33,  34,  35) ;  the  organs  of  human  beings  who  had  died 
of  long  and  wasting  diseases,  such  as  typhoid  fever, 


A. 


Section  of  adrenal  of  salmon  from 
ocean. 


Section  of  adrenal  of  salmon  from 
headwaters  of  Columbia  River. 


FIG.  31.  —  EFFECT  OF  A  LONG  SWIM  ON  THE  ADRENALS  OF  A  SALMON. 

Note  the  disappearance  of  cytoplasm  and  the  generally  disorganized  ap- 
pearance of  the  cells  in  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

Graves'  disease,  cancer,  tuberculosis,  pyogenic  infec- 
tions, tetanus,  chorea,  toxemia  from  intestinal  obstruc- 
tion, toxemia  from  gangrenous  intestine,  hemorrhage, 
eclampsia,  acute  acidosis  and  uremia.  (Figs.  36,  37.) 
We  observed  the  effects  of  foreign  proteins,  of  pep- 


17 1     MAN        AX    ADAIT1VK    MKCIIANISM 

tones,  of  iodin.  of  thyroid  extract,  of  adrenalin,  of  acids 
and  alkalis.  \Ye  examined  the  organs  and  tissues  of 
animals  from  which  the  adrenals,  the  pancreas  or  the 
liver  had  been  excised  ;  the  organs  of  animals  given 


A.  H. 

Liver  of  salmon  from  ocean.  Liver  of  salmon  from  h» 

of  (.'oluinhia   Ki\vr. 

Fio.  32.  —  EFFECT  OF  A  LONG  SWIM  ON  THE  LIVER  OF  A  Suv    \ 

Ni>u«   tho  oivoiitrir   ^H>sition  of  nnoloi.   ilis:»ppo:irati«-i>  of  Cytoplasm,  aiul 
iionorally  disorganiied  appearance  of  rolls  in  H. 

plu>ti>micro>sr:iphs.  X  1640.) 


toxins  and  strychnin  while  under  various  forms  of 
anesthesia;  of  animals  given  strychnin  under  anesthe- 
sia and  while  under  the  influence  of  curare;  of  animals 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM 


175 


first  given  heavy  doses  of  opium,  then  traumatized,  or 
toxins,  acids,  strychnin  and  adrenin. 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  cerebellum  of  cat.     Section  of  cerebellum  of  cat  after 

injections  of  indol  and  skatol. 

FIG.  33.  —  EFFECT  OF  INJECTIONS  OF  INDOL  AND  SKATOL  ON  THE  BRAIN- 
CELLS  OF  A  CAT. 

Compare  the  Purkinje  cells  in  B  with  those  in  A,  noting  the  hypochro- 
matisrn  and  the  general  appearance  of  disorganization  in  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

As  a  contrast  to  these  studies  histologic  examinations 
were  made  of  normal  animals ;  of  animals  after  long 
.sleep  —  woodchucks  immediately  after  hibernation. 


176    MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

These  studies,  which  have  extended  over  a  period  of 
six  years,  and  have  included  the  classification  of  over 
one  hundred  thousand  brain  cells,  show  that  in  every 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  adrenal  of  cat.     Section  of  adrenal  of  cat  after  injec- 
tions of  indol  and  skatol. 

FIG.  34.  —  EFFECT  OF  INJECTIONS  OF  INDOL  AND  SKATOL  ON  THE 

ADRENALS  OF  A  CAT. 

Note  the  widespread  disappearance  of  cytoplasm  and  of  nuclei  in  B. 
(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

instance  of  exhaustion,  except  when  the  vitality  had 
been  depressed  by  narcotics  and  anesthetics,  identical 
changes  were  produced  in  the  same  three  organs  —  the 
brain,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver.  Whatever  the  cause  of 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM 


177 


exhaustion  the  amount  of  cellular  deterioration  —  as 
nearly  as  could  be  estimated  —  was  proportional  to  the 
degree  of  exhaustion  and  involved  all  parts  of  the  cer- 


Section  of  normal  liver  of  cat.          Section  of  liver  of  cat  after  injec- 
tions of  indol  and  skatol. 

FIG.  35.  —  EFFECT  OF  INJECTIONS  OF  INDOL  AND  SKATOL  ON  THE  LIVER 

-OF  A  CAT. 

Note  the  disappearance  of  cytoplasm  and  of  many  nuclei  in  B. 
(From  photomicrographs.  X  1640.) 

ebro-spinal  axis,  being  most  noticeable  in  the  higher 
centers.  In  exertion,  emotion,  traumatic  shock,  infec- 
tion, foreign  protein  reaction  and  insomnia,  the  cycle 

N 


178     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  human  cerebellum    Section  of  human  cerebellum  after 
(after  accidental  death).  death  from  carcinoma. 

FIG.   36.  —  EFFECT  OF  CARCINOMA  ON  THE   BRAIN-CELLS   OF    A    HUMAN 

BEING. 

All  the  Purkinje  cells  in  focus  in  B  show  loss  of  chromatic  material.  In 
some  (indicated  by  arrows)  the  evidence  of  deterioration  is  so  great  as  to 
leave  but  the  faintest  outline  of  the  cell. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

of  change  was  from  a  first  stage  of  hyperchromatism  to 
chromatolysis  and  the  physical  breakdown  of  some  cells. 
Whether  the  stimulating  agent  was  physical  exertion, 
prolonged  emotional  excitation,  severe  injury,  the  injec- 
tion of  strychnin,  the  toxins  of  disease,  or  the  persistent 
maintenance  of  consciousness  under  normal  conditions, 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM 


179 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  human  cerebellum      Section  of  human  cerebellum  after 
(after  accidental  death).  death  from  paratyphoid  fever. 

FIG.  37.  —  EFFECT    OF    PARATYPHOID  FEVER  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A 
HUMAN  BEING. 

In  B  note  the  general  loss  of  chromatic  material  and  the  almost  entire 
disappearance  of  some  Purkinje  cells  (indicated  by  arrows). 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

mattered  not;  the  functional  manifestations  and  the 
histologic  changes  produced  in  the  brain,  the  adrenals 
and  the  liver  were  identical.  It  is  evident,  therefore, 
that  whatever  other  organs  may  be  involved  in  the 


180     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

transformation  of  energy,  the  brain,  the  adrenals  and 
the  liver  bear  their  portion  of  the  stress  of  life  —  take 
their  portion  of  the  work  of  producing  activity,  and  also, 
as  we  shall  see  later,  the  burden  of  repairing  the  effects 
of  activity. 

Functional   Changes   in   the   Adrenals   in   Relation   to 
Transformation  of  Energy 

The  identical  functional  changes  in  the  adrenals 
under  activation  are  as  significant  as  are  the  identi- 
cal histologic  changes  in  the  brain,  the  adrenals 
and  the  liver.  In  our  experiments  the  types  of  ac- 
tivation that  produced  histologic  changes  in  the  brain, 
the  adrenals  and  the  liver  produced  an  increased  out- 
put of  adrenin.  The  functional  activity  of  the  adrenals 
was  determined  (1)  by  the  biologic  test 1  and  (2)  by  the 
determination  of  the  H-ion  concentration  of  the  blood 
in  the  adrenal  veins  before  and  after  activation. 

In  examinations  of  the  blood  of  sixty-six  animals 
subjected  to  rage,  fear,  anaphylaxis,  injections  of  indol, 
skatol,  leucin,  creatin,  toxins  of  diphtheria,  colon 
bacilli,  foreign  proteins  and  strychnin,  the  biologic  test 
for  adrenin  was  positive.  (Figs.  38,  39.)  In  brief,  the 
agencies  which  caused  histologic  changes  in  the  brain, 
the  liver  and  the  adrenals,  with  the  single  exception  of 
traumatism  under  anesthesia,  caused  an  increased  func- 
tional activity  of  the  adrenals. 

H-ion  concentration  tests  showed  that  the  blood  in 
the  adrenal  veins  was  more  alkaline  than  the  blood 
from  the  brain,  muscles,  pancreas,  liver,  thyroid, 

1  Inhibition  of  intestinal  muscle. 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM 


181 


spleen  or  kidneys.  Adrenin  itself  is  more  alkaline  than 
normal  blood.  The  H-ion  concentration  of  the  blood 
in  the  adrenal  vein  as  compared  with  that  of  the  blood 
in  other  parts  of  the  circulation  is  therefore  an  index 
of  the  amount  of  adrenin  in  the  blood.  We  found 
an  increased  H-ion  concentration  in  intense  emotion ; 


J-cc     W*"« 
S-KA.'n       AffelT 


A.  B. 

FIG.  38.  —  TRACING  SHOWING  EFFECT  OF  SKATOL  ON  THE  ADRENAL  OUT- 
PUT OF  A  DOG.     (Cannon  Test.) 

The  first  tracing  —  A  —  was  made  by  the  contractions  of  intestinal  muscle 
in  blood  from  a  normal  dog.  The  second  tracing  —  B  —  shows  the  partial 
inhibition  of  the  contractions  produced  by  the  substitution  of  blood  after 
the  injection  of  skatol,  evidencing  the  presence  in  the  blood  of  an  increased 
amount  of  adrenin. 

in  exertion,  in  traumatic  shock ;  in  asphyxia ;  in  deep 
hemorrhage ;  and  during  the  inauguration  of  the  phe- 
nomena of  death  from  any  other  cause. 

The  biologic  test  for  adrenin  was  negative  —  i.e., 
functional  activity  of  the  adrenals  was  apparently  not 
excited  —  in  every  instance  in  which  the  above  activations 


182    MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


H'o.S 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM  183 

were  given  subsequent  to  a  division  of  the  nerve  supply  to 
the  adrenals  or  subsequent  to  deep  morphinization. 

The  Relation  of  the  Thyroid  to  Energy  Transformation 

Although  activity  of  the  thyroid  is  not  attended  by 
striking  histologic  changes,  and  while  as  yet  there  is  no 
available  test  by  which  to  determine  the  presence  of 
thyroid  secretion  in  the  blood,  there  is  other  evidence 
which  proves  that  the  thyroid  plays  an  important  role 
in  the  process  of  energy  transformation.  It  is  known 
that  the  specific  activity  of  the  thyroid  is  dependent  on 
the  presence  of  iodin  in  combination  with  certain  pro- 
teins in  the  colloid  material  of  the  gland,  from  which  it 
is  apparently  mobilized  by  activating  stimuli.  As  we 
have  already  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter,  Aschoff, 
Beebe,  and  others  have  shown  that  electrical  stimulation 
of  the  nerve  supply  to  the  thyroid  results  in  a  marked 
diminution  in  its  iodin  content.  Marine,  Beebe  and 
others  have  shown  that  the  hyperactive  thyroid  gland  in 
Graves'  disease  is  markedly  deficient  in  iodin  content. 

The  meagerness  of  laboratory  studies,  however,  is 
amply  compensated  by  the  observations  which  the 
surgeon  has  been  able  to  make  on  a  vast  scale,  —  ob- 
servations which  are  as  definite  as  are  the  results  of 
laboratory  experiments.  Unlike  the  brain  cells  and  the 
adrenals  which  are  securely  concealed  from  the  eye  of 
the  clinician,  the  thyroid  is  plainly  visible ;  and  gross 
changes  in  it  are  easily  seen.  A  rich  store  of  clinical 
evidence  exists,  which  confirms  the  postulate  that  both 
the  normal  and  the  enlarged  thyroid  are  stimulated 
to  increased  activity  by  agents  that  cause  functional 
and  histologic  changes  in  the  brain,  the  adrenals  and 


184     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

the  liver.  The  volume  of  the  thyroid  is  increased  in 
fear,  in  exertion,  in  sexual  excitation,  in  infection,  and 
it  is  notably  increased  during  periods  of  physiological 
adjustment,  such  as  adolescence  and  pregnancy. 

Negative  evidence  of  the  kinetic  function  of  the  thy- 
roid is  found  in  the  fact  that  thyroid  deficiency  pro- 
duces an  adynamic  state,  in  marked  contrast  to  the 
excessively  dynamic  state  of  hyperthyroidism. 

The  Relation  of  the  Muscles  to  Energy  Transformation 

As  for  the  role  of  the  muscles  in  the  transformation  of 
energy  for  both  heat  and  motion,  it  is  sufficient  to  point 
out  that  in  the  muscles  most  of  the  motion  and  the  heat 
of  the  body  is  produced.  In  the  muscles,  then,  we  find 
the  fourth  vital  link  in  the  kinetic  chain.  The  muscles 
move  the  body,  circulate  the  blood,  effect  respiration 
and  govern  the  body  temperature. 

Work  Changes 

We  have  seen  that  every  stimulus  which  produces 
either  heat  or  muscular  activity  in  the  animal  body 
produces  morphologic  changes  in  the  brain,  the  ad- 
renals and  the  liver,  and  probably  changes  the  iodin 
content  of  the  thyroid ;  that  no  like  changes  are  pro- 
duced in  other  organs  or  tissues  of  the  body ;  and 
that  these  changes  are  produced  primarily  or  seconda- 
rily by  the  stimuli  in  question.  It  is  thus  a  reasonable 
conclusion  that  these  changes  represent  work  changes 
in  the  organism.  The  evidence  already  presented, 
however,  is  not  sufficient  to  prove  what  that  work  is, 
in  what  capacity  each  organ  assists  in  its  performance, 


THE    KINETIC    SYSTEM  185 

and  whether  or  not  the  organs  are  interdependent  in 
their  action. 

Let  us  assume  for  the  moment  that  the  work  con- 
sists of  the  conversion  of  the  potential  energy  stored 
in  the  brain  cells  in  the  form  of  chemical  compounds 
-  Nissl  substance  —  into  electricity,  or  some  similar 
form  of  transmissible  energy,  which  on  its  release 
activates,  among  other  glands  and  organs,  the  thyroid 
and  the  adrenals,  the  secretions  of  which  in  the  form 
of  hormones  activate  the  brain,  which  in  turn  activates 
the  muscles  to  convert  carbohydrates  into  heat  and 
motion.  It  happens  that  we  have  an  interesting 
analogy  to  the  work  changes  produced  in  the  brains 
of  animals  by  the  conversion  of  chemical  energy  into 
heat  and  motion  in  the  conversion  of  stored  energy 
into  electricity  in  the  electric  fish.  In  this  fish  a  part 
of  the  usual  neuro-muscular  mechanism  is  replaced 
by  a  specialized  structure  for  storing  and  discharging 
electricity.  We  found  that  after  a  rapid  and  contin- 
uous discharge  of  their  electric  energy  in  response  to 
excitation,  the  electric  fish  were  exhausted  and  that 
their  brain  cells  showed  histologic  changes  identical 
with  those  produced  in  higher  animals  by  muscular 
work  or  by  heat  production.  (Fig.  40.)  Electricity  is 
a  form  of  energy,  and  is,  of  course,  convertible  into 
heat  or  motion.  If  the  discharge  of  electricity  in 
the  electric  fish  is  attended  by  work  changes  in  its 
brain-cells,  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  work  changes 
in  the  brain-cells  of  other  animals,  as  a  result  of  the 
conversion  of  their  stored  energy  into  heat  or  motion. 
We  found  further  that  electric  fish  could  not  dis- 
charge their  electricity  when  under  anesthesia ;  and 


186     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

clinically  we  know  that  in  animals  under  deep  morphia 
narcosis  and  under  anesthesia  the  production  of 
both  heat  and  muscular  action  is  hindered  or  pre- 


/ 


<*A        O 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  cerebellum  of       Section  of  cerebellum  of  electric  fish 
electric  fish.  after  electric  discharge. 

FIG.  40.  —  EFFECT  OF  ELECTRIC  DISCHARGE  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  AN 
ELECTRIC  FISH. 

Note  the  general  disappearance  of  chromatic  material  and  the  almost 
entire  disintegration  of  some  Purkinje  cells  —  indicated  by  arrows  —  in  B, 
as  compared  with  the  definitely  outlined  cells  of  A. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

vented.  In  addition  our  experiments  have  shown 
that  the  administration  of  morphia  before  the  injec- 
tion of  toxins  or  drug  stimulants  minimizes  the  his- 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM  187 

tologic  changes  produced  by  these  activating  agents, 
not  only  in  the  brain-cells,  but  also  in  the  adrenals  and 
the  liver,  while  at  the  same  time  the  body  temperature 
is  reduced.  We  postulate,  therefore,  that  the  brain- 
cells  participate  as  actively  in  the  production  of  heat 
as  in  the  production  of  motion.  That  is,  the  brain 
drives  the  body  in  response  to  the  activation  of  infec- 
tion or  of  foreign  proteins  within  the  body,  exactly  as 
it  drives  the  body  in  response  to  an  external  stimulus 
which  induces  the  reactions  of  running  or  of  fighting. 
The  end  effect  in  one  case  is  the  production  of  chemi- 
cal action  and  of  heat ;  in  the  other  the  production  of 
motion. 

If  the  production  of  heat,  like  the  production  of 
motion,  results  from  impulses  sent  from  the  brain  to 
the  muscles,  any  break  in  the  connection  between  the 
brain  and  the  muscles  would  hinder  the  production  of 
heat  as  well  as  of  motion.  We  know  that  when  nerve 
connection  between  the  brain  and  the  muscles  is  nulli- 
fied by  curare,  which  paralyzes  the  muscles,  or  severed 
by  high  transection  of  the  spinal  cord,  the  animal  is  not 
only  deprived  of  motion,  but  its  heat-producing  power 
is  at  once  on  a  par  with  that  of  cold-blooded  animals.1 
That  is,  with  the  external  application  of  cold  the  tem- 
perature falls  ;  with  the  application  of  heat  the  tempera- 
ture rises.  When  the  activity  of  either  the  brain  or  the 
muscles  is  depressed  or  eliminated,  therefore,  the  animal 
becomes  incapable  of  converting  potential  into  kinetic 
energy  for  the  production  of  either  heat  or  motion. 

The  postulate  that  the  brain  cells  contribute  to  the 
production  of  heat  as  well  as  of  motion  by  sending 

1  Starling. 


188    MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

impulses  to  the  muscles  is  further  supported  by  the 
fact  that  fever  may  be  produced  by  brain  activity 
alone  in  the  absence  of  infection  and  without  any 
visible  activity  of  the  skeletal  muscles.  In  experiments 
in  which  animals  were  subjected  to  fear  without  any 
accompanying  exertion  of  the  skeletal  muscles  a  rise 
in  temperature  was  invariably  manifested.  The  tem- 
perature of  the  anxious  friends  and  relatives  of  a 
patient  will  rise  while  they  await  the  outcome  of  an 
operation.  In  one  instance  at  Lakeside  Hospital  when 
a  young  woman  with  Graves'  disease  was  undergoing 
an  operation  under  anoci  association,  the  pulse  of  her 
waiting  mother  mounted  to  140  and  her  temperature 
to  100  degrees,  while  the  pulse  and  temperature  of  the 
daughter  showed  no  change. 

The  temperature  of  a  patient  will  frequently  rise 
a  degree  or  more  as  the  result  of  the  visit  of  a  tactless 
friend  who  perhaps  has  exaggerated  the  danger  of  the 
illness  or  has  given  vehement  expression  to  her  grief. 
There  is  a  traditional  Sunday  rise  of  temperature  in 
hospital  wards,  where  additional  visitors  are  allowed 
on  that  day,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  visitor  has 
brought  no  additional  infection  and  that  the  patient 
has  made  no  muscular  exertion.  In  a  ward  in  Lake- 
side Hospital  containing  fifteen  children  there  was  an 
average  increase  in  temperature  of  one  and  one  eighth 
degrees  as  a  result  of  a  Fourth-of-July  celebration. 

In  the  presence  of  a  fever-producing  infection,  mus- 
cular exertion  or  other  motor  stimulation  causes  addi- 
tional fever  and  brain-cell  changes  greater  than  would 
be  produced  by  the  infection  alone.  Apparently, 
therefore,  heat  and  motion  are  interchangeable  prod- 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM  189 

ucts  of  the  normal  interaction  of  the  brain  and  the 
muscles,  and  the  cooperation  of  these  organs  is  essen- 
tial to  the  transformation  of  the  potential  energy  of 
the  body  into  heat  or  motion. 

Effect  upon  Energy  Transformation  of  Decreased  Activ- 
ity of  Certain  Organs  of  the  Kinetic  System 

A  system  of  organs  that  cooperate  to  accomplish 
a  specific  function  should  show  as  a  mark  of  that  co- 
operation an  alteration  in  the  sum  total  of  its  activities 
as  a  result  of  any  alteration  in  the  condition  of  any 
organ  in  the  system.  In  other  words,  if  the  brain,  the 
liver,  the  thyroid,  the  adrenals  and  the  muscles  cooper- 
ate as  a  system  whose  chief  function  is  the  transfor- 
mation of  energy,  then  loss  or  impairment  of  the  function 
of  any  one  of  these  organs  should  result  in  a  loss  or 
impairment  of  the  power  of  the  entire  organism  to 
transform  energy  for  the  production  of  heat  or  motion. 
In  like  manner,  increased  activity  of  the  brain,  the 
adrenals,  the  thyroid  or  the  muscles  should  result  in 
an  increased  production  of  heat  or  motion. 

Convincing  evidence  on  this  point  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  adrenin  alone,  thyroid  extract  alone,  brain 
activity  alone  and  muscular  activity  alone  are  capable 
of  causing  the  body  temperature  to  rise  above  normal. 
The  functional  activity  of  no  other  organ  or  gland 
of  the  body,  alone,  and  the  secretion  of  no  other  gland 
of  the  body,  alone,  can  cause  a  comparable  rise  in  body 
temperature,  that  is,  a  comparable  increase  in  the 
power  of  the  body  to  convert  potential  into  kinetic 
energy.  No  active  principle  derived  from  the  kidney, 
the  liver,  the  stomach,  the  pancreas,  the  hypophysis, 


190     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

the  parathyroid,  the  spleen,  the  intestines,  the  thymus, 
the  lymphatic  gland  or  the  bones  can,  per  se,  cause 
a  rise  in  the  general  body  temperature  comparable  to 
the  rise  that  may  be  occasioned  by  activity  of  the  brain 
or  the  muscles  or  by  the  injection  of  adrenin  or  of 
thyroid  extract.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  activity 
of  the  brain,  the  thyroid,  the  adrenals,  the  liver  or  the 
muscles  is  eliminated  by  excision,  by  narcosis  or  by 
anesthesia  the  power  of  the  body  to  convert  latent 
into  kinetic  energy  is  impaired  or  lost  entirely. 

Brain:  In  certain  pathological  conditions  of  the 
brain,  such  as  cerebral  softening,  one  frequently  finds 
that  all  the  other  organs  of  the  body  are  comparatively 
healthy.  Being  physically  injured,  the  brain  cannot 
stimulate  the  other  organs  in  the  kinetic  chain  to 
perform  their  normal  roles;  hence  the  whole  process 
of  energy  conversion  is  slowed  down.  In  certain 
cases  of  cardio-vascular  disease  apparently  due  to  an 
excessive  driving  of  the  kinetic  system,  the  condition 
is  cured  after  the  inception  of  cerebral  softening.  The 
brains  of  the  senile  show  histologic  deterioration  and 
the  senile  exhibit  a  low  range  of  muscular  power  and 
of  fever  production. 

Adrenals:  In  such  destructive  lesions  of  the  adrenals 
as  Addison's  disease,  two  of  the  cardinal  symptoms 
are  a  subnormal  temperature  and  impaired  muscular 
power.  Animals  upon  which  double  adrenalectomy 
has  been  performed  show  a  striking  fall  in  tempera- 
ture, muscular  weakness  and  progressive  chromatolysis 
of  the  brain-cells.  (Fig.  41.) 

Liver:  When  the  function  of  the  liver  is  impaired  by 
tumors,  by  cirrhosis  or  by  degeneration,  the  energy  of 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM 


191 


the  body  is  correspondingly  diminished.  This  diminu- 
tion of  energy  is  evidenced  in  muscular  and  mental 
weakness,  and  in  diminished  response  to  all  types  of 
stimuli. 


I 


^Q^*\V>.        *" 


•  XT  .-    ,  .  •> 

'^^ 


*%>    :W 


A.  B.  C. 

Section  of  normal  cere-  Section  of  cerebellum  Section  of  cerebellum 
bellum  of  dog.  of  dog  after  adrenalec-  of  dog  after  repeated  in- 

tomy.  jections  of  adrenin. 

FIG.  41.  —  COMPARATIVE  EFFECTS  OF  EXCISION  OF  THE  ADRENALS  AND  OF 
EXCESSIVE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  ADRENIN  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF 
DOGS. 

The  disastrous  effect  of  withdrawing  adrenin  from  the  kinetic  system  is 
apparent  in  B  in  the  extensive  loss  of  chromatic  material  in  all  the  cells, 
the  disintegration  of  many  and  the  almost  complete  degeneration  of  some 
cells.  The  effect  of  a  continuous  activation  of  the  system  by  the  excessive 
administration  of  adrenin  is  strikingly  shown  in  C  by  the  large  number  of 
hyperchromatic  cells,  together  with  evidences  of  exhaustion  and  disintegra- 
tion in  some  cells.  These  effects  are  similar  in  kind  and  analogous  to  the 
effects  produced  by  withdrawing  thyroid  secretion  or  by  administering 
excessive  doses  of  thyroid  extract. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

Muscles:  It  has  been  observed  clinically  that  if  the 
muscles  are  impaired  by  long  disuse  or  by  a  disease  such 
as  myasthenia  gravis,  the  range  of  production  of  both 
heat  and  motion  is  below  normal.  This  is  in  agree- 


192     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

ment  with  the  experimental  findings  that  anesthetics, 
curare  or  any  break  in  the  muscle-brain  connection 
causes  diminished  muscular  action  and  heat  production. 


X 


£ 

** 


2awSc>*:. 


A. 

Section  of  normal  cere- 
bellum of  dog. 


B. 


C. 


Section  of  cerebellum        Section  of  cerebellum 
of  dog  after  thyroidec-   of  dog  after  continued 
feeding  with  thyroid  ex- 
tract. 


tomy. 


FIG.  42.  —  COMPARATIVE  EFFECTS  OF  EXCISION  OF  THE  THYROID  AND  OF 
EXCESSIVE  FEEDING  WITH  THYROID  EXTRACT  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS 
OF  DOGS. 

The  harmful  effect  of  withdrawing  thyroid  secretion  from  the  organism 
is  shown  in  B  in  the  high  percentage  of  degenerated  cells,  the  loss  of  chro- 
matic material  and  complete  disintegration  of  many  cells.  The  effect  of  a 
continuous  activation  of  the  system  by  excessive  feeding  with  thyroid  secre- 
tion is  evidenced  in  C  by  the  presence  of  hyperchromatic  cells,  together  with 
some  exhausted,  degenerated  cells.  The  cells  in  both  B  and  C  present  a 
marked  contrast  to  the  uniform  stainability  and  clearly  defined  outlines  of 
the  normal  cells  in  A. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

Thyroid:  In  myxcedema  —  thyroid  deficiency  —  one 
of  the  cardinal  symptoms  is  a  persistent  subnormal  tem- 
perature. Subjects  of  myxcedema,  although  prone  to 
infection,  show  but  slight  febrile  response  and  succumb 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM  193 

readily.  This  clinical  observation  is  in  striking  accord 
with  observations  made  in  the  author's  laboratory, 
in  which  the  effect  of  fear  on  normal  rabbits  was 
compared  with  its  effect  upon  rabbits  whose  thyroid 
glands  had  been  previously  removed.  While  in  the 
normal  rabbits  fright  caused  a  rise  in  temperature  of 
from  one  to  three  degrees,  the  rabbits  whose  thyroids 
had  been  removed  before  the  activation  made  but 
slight  febrile  response.  Myxcedema  subjects  show  a 
loss  of  physical  and  mental  power  proportional  to 
the  lack  of  thyroid  efficiency.  (Fig.  42.) 

Effects  upon  Energy  Transformation  of  Increased  Activity 
of  the  Several  Links  of  the  Kinetic  System 

In  striking  contrast  to  the  dullness  and  torpidity 
of  the  myxcedema  patient,  suffering  from  depressed 
thyroid  activity,  is  the  supreme  excitability  and  exqui- 
site sensitiveness  of  the  victim  of  the  hyperactive 
thyroid  in  Graves'  disease,  or  exophthalmic  goiter. 
Here  the  conditions  are  exactly  reversed.  Instead  of  a 
sluggish  and  colorless  existence  the  response  to  every 
type  of  stimulus  is  exaggerated.  The  patient  having 
acute  Graves'  disease  responds  to  toxins,  infection,  pain 
or  emotional  activation  by  a  volcanic  transformation 
of  energy  that  is  unequaled  in  the  phenomena  of  any 
other  known  normal  or  abnormal  state. 

In  the  patient  with  Graves'  disease  there  is  a  con- 
tinuous state  of  exalted  consciousness ;  a  tendency  to 
start  at  the  slightest  sound,  to  scream  at  the  slightest 
pain.  The  response  to  contact  or  chemical  stimuli  is 
equally  intensified.  The  heightened  activity  is  seen 


194     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

in  the  constant  fine  tremor  of  the  muscles,  in  the  tend- 
ency to  the  spontaneous  production  of  fever  —  fever 
which  in  fatal  cases  may  mount  a  degree  every  hour 
and  reach  the  incredible  height  of  109  degrees  at  the 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  cerebellum  Section  of  cerebellum  of  dog  after 

of  dog.  injection  of  iodoform. 

FIQ.  43.  —  EFFECT  OF  IODOFORM  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A  Doo. 

Note  the  general  disappearance  of  chromatic  material  from  the  cells  of 
B,  as  compared  with  the  deeply  stained,  intact  normal  cells  of  A. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

time  of  death,  a  rapidity  of  rise  and  a  height  unequaled 
in  any  other  condition,  pathologic  or  normal,  save 
in  heat  stroke.  Graves '  disease,  in  fact,  presents  an 
unparalleled  picture  of  intensified  action  of  the  kinetic 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM  195 

system.  In  no  other  phase  of  health  or  disease  does 
the  thyroid  gland  appear  to  manifest  so  definitely 
that  its  role  is  that  of  pacemaker  for  the  kinetic  system. 
In  this  disease  the  gland  appears  to  be  pouring  into 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  adrenal  of  dog.          Section  of  adrenal  of  dog  after 

injection  of  iodoform. 

FIG.  44.  —  EFFECT  OF  IODOFORM  ON  THE  ADRENALS  OF  A  DOG. 

Note  the  widespread  loss  of  cytoplasm  and  the  vacuolation  of  some  cells 
in  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

the  blood  a  continuous  secretion  which  sensitizes  the 
brain,  causing  it  to  respond  abnormally  to  environ- 
mental stimuli,  this  activity  in  turn  serving  to  reexcite 
the  thyroid  and  the  adrenals,  thus  completing  a  vicious. 


196     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

circle    of    activity  which    may  ultimately  drive   the 
mechanism  of  the  patient  to  destruction. 

That  the  sensitizing  agent  in  Graves'  disease  is  the 
thyroid  secretion  is  made  probable  by  many  facts.  The 
administration  of  thyroid  extract  alone  or  of  iodin  alone 


— »- 

- 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  liver  of  dog.  Section  of  liver  of  dog  after 

injection  of  iodoform. 

FIG.  45.  —  EFFECT  OF  IODOFORM  ON  THE  LIVER  OF  A  DOG. 
Note  the  extensive  vacuolated  areas  and  the  disappearance  of  nuclei  in  B. 
(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

causes  all  the  phenomena  of  Graves'  disease,  except  e.\- 
ophthalmos  and  the  emotional  facies.  (Figs.  43, 44,  45.) 
Moreover,  surgical  intervention  by  ligation  of  the 
arteries,  division  of  the  nerve  supply  to  the  gland  and 
the  excision  of  a  part  of  the  gland,  or  therapeutic  treat- 


THE    KINETIC    SYSTEM  197 

ment  by  complete  rest  and  the  exclusion  of  all  activat- 
ing stimuli  may,  singly  or  in  combination,  cause  a 
reversion  of  the  picture  and  restoration  to  the  normal 
state.  And  finally,  where  there  is  thyroid  deficiency, 
there  is  the  antithesis  of  this  extremely  excitable  con- 
dition —  a  reptilian  sluggishness.  Apparently,  there- 
fore, by  the  administration  of  a  diminished,  a  nor- 
mal or  an  excessive  amount  of  thyroid  secretion,  we 
can  at  will  produce  an  adynamic,  a  normal  or  an 
excessively  dynamic  state  of  the  organism.  Through 
thyroid  influence  the  brain  threshold  is  lowered  and 
life  becomes  exquisite ;  without  its  influence  the  brain 
is  an  inert  mass. 

The  influence  upon  energy  conversion  of  hyperactiv- 
ity  of  the  brain,  the  muscles  or  the  adrenals  is  no  less 
significant  than  the  effects  of  hyperactivity  of  the  thy- 
roid. We  have  noted  that  brain  activity  alone  can 
produce  fever,  and  that  both  voluntary  and  electrical 
stimulation  of  the  muscles  cause  increased  tempera- 
ture ;  that  is,  increased  energy  conversion.  In  a  Mara- 
thon race  the  runner's  temperature  may  rise  two  de- 
grees, and  at  the  end  of  a  heat,  the  temperature  of  a 
racing  horse  may  show  an  increase  of  four  degrees. 
In  both  instances  the  conversion  of  energy  is  above 
normal.  After  a  high  fever  the  muscles  show  a  marked 
impairment  of  their  power  to  produce  motion,  suggest- 
ing that  during  the  fever  they  have  been  involved  to 
an  abnormal  degree  in  the  transformation  of  energy. 

We  have  already  presented  ample  evidence  of  the 
effect  of  an  increased  activity  of  the  adrenals  upon 
energy  transformation.  The  administration  of  large 
doses  of  adrenin  of  itself  produces  fever.  We  have 


198     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE    MECHANISM 

seen  that  in  rage  and  fear  a  physiological  preparation 
for  supreme  motor  efficiency  is  secured  by  an  increased 
output  of  adrenin,  resulting  in  a  mobilization  of  energy 
compounds,  a  diversion  of  the  blood  stream  to  the 
fighting  apparatus  and  a  diminution  of  fatigue.  The 
significance  of  this  point  should  not  be  overlooked. 

Adrenin  performs  all  the  functions  that  are  per- 
formed by  the  sympathetic  nervous  system  except  one. 
Adrenin  raises  the  blood  pressure,  accelerates  the 
respiration-  and  slows  the  heart  action,  governs  the 
output  of  glycogen  from  the  liver,  inhibits  intestinal 
contractions,  widens  the  alveoli  of  the  lungs,  increases 
oxygen  combustion  in  the  muscles,  dilates  the  pupils, 
causes  uterine  contractions,  erection  of  the  hair  and 
sweating.  We  have  shown  that  it  mobilizes  the  Nissl 
substance  in  the  brain  and  directly  activates  the  brain. 
In  short,  adrenin  causes  all  the  leading  phenomena 
which  are  the  invariable  accompaniments  of  the  pro- 
duction of  heat  and  motion  in  muscular  action,  infec- 
tion or  emotion,  and  which  are  presumably  outward 
manifestations  of  the  processes  by  which  these  trans- 
formations of  energy  are  effected.  The  only  function 
of  the  sympathetic  nervous  system  which  adrenin  does 
not  perform  is  stimulation  of  the  adrenals  themselves 
to  greater  activity. 

Interdependence  of  the  Brain,  Thyroid,  Adrenals,  Liver 
and  Muscles 

We  have  seen  that  the  brain  and  the  muscles  are 
interdependent  in  the  production  of  both  heat  and 
motion,  since  the  elimination  of  either  causes  a  diminu- 
tion or  loss  of  these  processes.  We  have  seen  that  the 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM  199 

brain  and  the  thyroid  also  are  mutually  active  in  the 
conversion  of  energy,  and  that  without  the  thyroid  the 
brain  is  impaired.  We  have  seen  also  that  adrenal 
activity  invariably  accompanies  the  transformation 
of  energy,  and  that  increased  adrenal  activity  is  pre- 
vented when  the  connection  between  the  brain  and  the 
adrenals  is  interrupted.  In  other  words,  our  experi- 
ments have  shown  that  every  adequate  stimulus  which 
causes  brain-cell  •  changes  and  which  is  sufficient  to 
cause  the  production  of  motion  or  heat  in  -the  organ- 
ism, causes  increased  adrenal  activity  and  histologic 
changes  in  the  adrenals,  except  when  the  adrenal 
nerve  supply  has  been  divided,  in  which  case  the 
application  of  kinetic  stimuli  causes  neither  increased 
adrenal  activity  nor  histologic  changes  in  the  adrenals. 
Furthermore,  when  an  animal  is  deeply  narcotized 
with  morphia  before  the  administration  of  a  kinetic 
stimulus  there  is  no  increased  output  of  adrenin  and 
there  are  diminished  histologic  changes  in  the  adrenals. 
This  evidence  seems  sufficient  to  warrant  the  con- 
clusion that  the  adaptive  activity  of  the  adrenals  is 
largely  if  not  wholly  dependent  upon  the  brain. 

Is  the  converse  true?  That  is,  is  the  relation  be- 
tween the  adrenals  and  the  brain  reciprocal?  In 
crossed-circulation  experiments  1  we  proved  that  ad- 
renin alone  causes  increased  brain  activity,  manifested 
by  increased  blood-pressure  and  hyperchromatism 
of  the  brain-cells  in  the  animal  whose  brain  received 
the  adrenin.  (Figs.  46,  47.)  Animals  whose  adrenals 

1  In  these  experiments  the  circulations  of  two  dogs  were  crossed 
so  that  all  the  blood  from  the  body  of  one  passed  through  the  head 
of  the  other  and  vice  versa. 


200     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


have  been  excised  apparently  show  no  hyperchromatism 
in  the  brain  cells  after  the  injection  of  strychnin, 
toxins,  foreign  proteins,  etc.  That  is,  not  only  is  there 
no  adrenal  activity  in  response  to  activation  after  the 
interruption  of  nerye  connection  between  the  brain 
and  the  adrenals,  but  there  is  also  diminished  activity. 


TOURNIQUET 


DO  O 

A. 


DOC, 


-Ves&eL  Crowed  Circulation^ 


FIG.  46.  —  SCHEMATIC   DRAWING   SHOWING   COURSE  OF  BLOOD  STREAMS 
OF  Two  DOGS  WITH  EIGHT-VESSEL  CROSSED  CIRCULATION. 

The  circulation  of  two  dogs  were  crossed  in  such  a  way  that  the  head 
circulation  of  one  dog  was  anastomosed  to  the  body  circulation  of  the  other, 
and  the  body  circulation  of  the  first  dog  to  the  head  circulation  of  the 
second.  A  cord  encircled  the  neck  of  each  so  firmly  that  the  vertebral 
and  anastomosing  circulation  was  efficiently  blocked. 

Excision  of  the  adrenals  causes  death  on  an  average 
within  fifteen  hours,  during  which  time  there  is  a 
steady  diminution  in  Nissl  substance  in  the  brain-cells, 
and  a  steady  fall  in  temperature  and  a  diminution  of 
muscular  power  to  the  vanishing  point. 

The   strong  affinity  of  the  brain-cells  for  adrenin. 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM 


201 


which  was  clearly  manifested  in  our  experiments, 
leads  us  to  think  that  the  Nissl  substance  may  be  a 
volatile  —  extremely  unstable  —  combination  of  certain 


FIG.  47.  —  BLOOD-PRESSURE  TRACINGS  CONTRASTING  THE  EFFECT  OF 
ADRENIN  ON  THE  BLOOD-PRESSURE  OF  A  DOG  WHOSE  BRAIN  ALONE 
RECEIVED  ADRENIN  WITH  THE  BLOOD-PRESSURE  OF  A  DOG  WHOSE 
TRUNK  ALONE  RECEIVED  ADRENIN. 

The  blood-pressure,  taken  from  the  carotid  artery  of  Dog  B,  whose  brain 
alone  received  the  stimulus,  its  body  circulation  being  anastomosed  to  the 
brain  of  Dog  A,  which  received  no  stimulus,  showed  a  sharp  and  immediate 
rise.  The  blood-pressure  of  Dog  A,  whose  trunk  alone  received  the  stimulus 
(see  schematic  drawing,  Fig.  46),  rose  later,  but  to  a  lesser  degree.  The 
rise  in  blood-pressure  of  Dog  B  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  adrenin 
acts  directly  upon  some  part  of  the  brain,  causing  it  to  send  energizing  im- 
pulses to  the  blood  vessels  of  the  body,  v/hich  result  in  a  rise  in  blood-pressure. 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  rise  in  Dog  B  was  its  unusual  duration,  as 
compared  with  the  rise  in  an  intact  animal  given  an  equal  amount  of  adrenin. 
The  brain-cells  of  Dog  B  showed  hyperchromatism  —  the  inference  being 
that  this  hyperchromatism  is  an  evidence  of  increased  activity. 

Injection  of  strychnin  causes  hyperchromatism  of  the  brain  in  intact 
animals ;  but  injection  of  strychnin  in  animals  whose  adrenals  have  been 
removed  causes  no  hyperchromatism  in  the  brain.  Injection  of  strychnin 
causes  an  increased  output  of  adrenin.  Perhaps  the  hyperchromatism 
caused  by  strychnin  is  produced  indirectly  by  its  mobilization  of  adrenin. 

elements  of  the  brain-cells  and  adrenin.     The  cells 
of  the  adrenals  do  not  take  the  Nissl  stain,  and  the 


202     MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM  203 

brain  deprived  of  adrenin  does  not  take  the  Nissl 
stain.  The  consumption  of  the  Nissl  substance  in  the 
brain-cells  is  lessened  or  prevented  by  morphia,  as  is 
the  output  of  adrenin  (Fig.  48)  ;  and  the  consumption 
of  the  Nissl  substance  is  also  lessened  or  prevented  by 
nitrous  oxid.  Both  morphia  and  nitrous  oxid  act 
through  their  interference  with  oxidation.  We  con- 
clude, therefore,  that  adrenin  can  unite  with  the  brain- 
cells  only  through  the  mediation  of  oxygen. 

In  this  interrelation  of  the  brain,  the  thyroid  and 
the  adrenals,  we  have  what  is,  perhaps,  the  master 
key  to  the  automatic  action  of  the  body ;  that  is, 
through  the  special  senses  environmental  stimuli 
reach  the  brain  and  cause  it  to  liberate  energy,  which 
in  turn  activates  certain  other  organs  and  tis- 
sues, among  which  are  the  thyroid  and  the  adrenals. 
The  increased  output  of  thyreo-iodin,  by  facilitating 
the  transmission  of  electric  currents  through  semi- 
permeable  membranes,  increases  the  passage  of  nerve 
impulses  and  sets  the  pace  for  energy  conversion.  In 
consequence  the  adrenals  are  driven  to  increased 
activity,  and  the  increased  adrenin  in  turn  excites 
the  brain  to  still  greater  activity,  as  a  result  of  which, 
again,  the  entire  sympathetic  nervous  system  is  acti- 
vated, as  is  manifested  by  the  increased  heart  action, 
more  rapid  respiration,  raised  blood-pressure,  increased 
output  of  glycogen,  increased  power  of  the  muscles  to 
metabolize  glycogen,  etc. 

If  the  foregoing  conclusions  be  well  founded,  we 
should  find  corroborative  evidence  in  histologic  or 
functional  changes  in  that  great  storehouse  of  potential 
energy  and  neutralizer  of  the  acid  by-products  of  energy 


204     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

transformation  —  the  liver  —  in  every  case  in  which  the 
brain,  the  thyroid,  the  adrenals  and  the  muscles  exhibit 
changes. 

Relation  of  the  Liver  to  Energy  Transformation 

In  our  experiments  we  found  that  all  adequate 
stimuli  which  affected  the  brain,  the  thyroid  and  the 
adrenals  produced  constant  and  identical  histologic 
changes  in  the  liver.  The  amount  of  glycogen  in  the 
liver  was  diminished  in  every  instance  in  which  the 
brain-thyroid-adrenal  activity  was  manifested.  The 
duration  of  life  after  excision  of  the  liver  is  about  the 
same  as  after  adrenalectomy  —  from  several  to  twenty 
hours.  On  the  contrary,  when  the  administration  of 
adequate  stimuli  which  ordinarily  cause  histologic 
changes  in  the  brain,  the  liver  and  the  adrenals  was 
preceded  by  deep  morphia  narcosis,  by  excision  of  the 
adrenals,  by  interrupting  the  adrenal  nerve  supply, 
there  were  no  histologic  changes  produced  in  the  liver 
and  the  sugar  content  was  normal.  This  point  was 
demonstrated  by  the  following  experiment :  An  in- 
travenous injection  of  diphtheria  toxin  was  given  to 
each  of  a  number  of  rabbits.  In  each  of  an  equal 
number  of  rabbits  the  intravenous  injection  of  an 
equal  dose  of  diphtheria  toxin  was  preceded  by  a  large 
dose  of  morphia.  After  four  hours  all  the  animals  were 
killed  and  complete  autopsies  made.  Histological 
examinations  of  the  organs  of  the  animals  which  had 
received  the  diphtheria  toxin  alone  showed  striking 
changes  in  the  brain,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver,  while 
in  the  animals  in  which  the  injection  of  diphtheria 
toxin  was  preceded  by  a  large  dose  of  morphia,  there 


THE   KINETIC    SYSTEM  205 

were  very  slight  or  no  histologic  changes  in  the  brain, 
the  adrenals  or  the  liver. 

It  might  be  questioned  whether  the  control  of  the 
adrenals  and  the  liver  exerted  by  morphia  is  through 
its  action  on  the  brain  or  by  direct  action  on  the  two 
other  organs.  Since  morphia  inhibits  brain  activity 
and  since  severing  the  nerve  connection  between  the 
brain  and  the  adrenals  also  inhibits  adrenal  action  and 
prevents  histologic  changes  in  the  adrenal  and  the 
liver,  it  seems  probable  that  morphia  controls  the  ad- 
renal output.  Granting  that  morphia  can  prevent 
activation  by  adrenin,  the  question  arises  whether  or 
not  it  can  prevent  the  action  of  adrenin  injected  intra- 
venously. That  is,  can  opium  neutralize  the  effects 
of  adrenin  per  se?  On  experiment,  we  found  that 
opium  could  not  prevent  the  action  of  adrenin  in- 
jected intravenously,  since  under  deep  morphinization 
injections  of  adrenin  still  caused  an  increase  in  the 
force  and  the  frequency  of  the  heart  beat,  a  rise  in  the 
blood-pressure  and  an  acceleration  of  the  respiratory 
rate.  We  conclude,  therefore,  that  while  opium  cannot 
prevent  the  action  of  adrenin  per  se,  it  can  prevent 
the  fabrication  of  adrenin  by  the  adrenals.  We  know 
clinically  that  the  activity  of  the  thyroid  is  controlled 
by  large  doses  of  opium.  It  is  known  that  adrenin 
measurably  governs  the  functions  of  the  liver ;  that  in- 
directly the  fabrication  of  adrenin,  in  part  at  least,  is 
governed  by  thyreo-iodin ;  that  directly  or  indirectly  the 
output  of  thyreo-iodin  is  controlled  by  the  brain ;  and 
that  the  brain  is  controlled  by  morphia.  Indirectly, 
therefore,  morphia  would  be  expected  to  prevent  histo- 
logic changes  in  the  liver  due  to  emotion,  to  toxins,  etc. 


206     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE    MECHANISM 

From  all  this  evidence  we  conclude  that  the  brain, 
the  thyroid,  the  adrenals,  the  liver  and  the  muscles 
are  mutually  dependent  upon  each  other  for  the  con- 
version of  latent  into  kinetic  energy.  Each  is  a  vital 
organ ;  each  equally  vital.  While  it  may  be  said  that 
excision  of  the  brain  causes  death  in  less  time  than 
excision  of  the  liver  or  the  adrenals,  this  statement  must 
be  modified  by  our  definition  of  death.  After  the 
entire  brain  of  an  animal  has  been  removed  by  decapi- 
tation, its  body  may  live  on  for  eleven  hours  or  more, 
if  the  circulation  be  maintained  by  an  over-transfusion 
of  blood.  An  animal  may  live  for  weeks  or  months 
after  excision  of  the  cerebral  hemispheres  and  the  cere- 
bellum, while  an  over-transfused  animal  may  live 
many  hours  or  even  days  after  destruction  of  the 
medulla.  It  is  possible,  therefore,  that,  in  this  sense, 
the  brain  actually  is  a  less  vital  organ  than  either  the 
adrenals  or  the  liver. 

Summing  up  our  evidence  in  regard  to  the  principal 
factors  in  energy  transformation,  therefore,  we  have 
the  fact  that  if  communication  between  the  brain  and 
the  muscles,  the  brain  and  the  adrenals,  the  brain 
and  the  thyroid  or  the  brain  and  the  liver  be  severed, 
the  power  of  the  body  to  transform  latent  into  kinetic 
energy  for  heat  or  motion  is  diminished.  The  body 
without  the  brain,  the  thyroid,  the  adrenals  or  the 
muscles  can  make  little  or  no  response  to  environment ; 
little  or  no. febrile  response  to  infection.  After  excision 
of  the  brain  there  is  an  immediate  fall  to  a  low  degree 
of  energy  transformation  in  the  body,  accompanied 
by  no  histologic  changes  in  other  organs  or  tissues, 
showing  that  without  the  brain  there  is  no  activation. 


THE   KINETIC   SYSTEM  207 

After  excision  of  both  adrenals,  there  is  a  rapid  decline 
in  the  power  of  the  body  to  transform  energy,  accom- 
panied by  progressive  histologic  changes  in  the  brain- 
cells  and  followed  by  death.  Animals  whose  adrenals 
have  been  excised  behave  as  if  at  the  time  of  exci- 
sion the  body  contained  a  certain  amount  of  adrenin 
and  as  if  death  followed  naturally  when  this  amount 
had  been  utilized.  After  excision  of  the  liver  there  is, 
until  death,  an  immediate  and  progressive  loss  in  the 
ability  of  the  organism  to  transform  energy,  accom- 
panied by  marked  and  widespread  histologic  changes  in 
the  brain-cells.  It  would  appear  that  the  activity  of 
the  liver  produces  in  the  body  a  certain  margin  of 
safety  by  which  the  body  is  protected  against  acidosis 
for  a  brief  time  after  the  liver  has  been  excised,  death 
occurring  when  this  margin  is  passed. 

The  excision  of  no  other  organ  in  the  body  interferes 
with  energy  transformation  as  does  the  excision  of 
the  brain,  the  adrenals  or  the  liver.  Excision  of  the 
hypophysis  causes  diminished  muscular  power  and  a 
subnormal  temperature,  but  a  far  more  gradual  de- 
cline in  energy  transformation,  since  an  animal  so 
treated  may  live  for  several  days  or  weeks.  Excision 
of  the  thyroid  causes  diminished  muscular  power  and 
heat  production  in  most  animals.  Excision  of  the 
parathyroids  may  occasion  clonic  spasms,  indicating 
excessive  energy  transformation.  Neither  excision  of 
the  thymus  nor  splenectomy  is  attended  by  any 
notable  alteration  in  energy  transformation.  Excision 
of  the  pancreas  leaves  protein  metabolism  undisturbed 
but  interferes  with  sugar  metabolism,  to  that  extent 
only  interfering  with  energy  transformation. 


208     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Excision  of  any  part  of  the  stomach  or  of  the  intes- 
tines is  not  followed  by  any  change  in  energy  trans- 
formation. Excision  of  the  testicles,  the  uterus  or 
the  ovaries  prevents  the  rhythmic  changes  in  energy 
transformation  incident  to  procreation,  but  the  power 
of  energy  transformation  for  physical  exertion  or  heat 
production  remains  unaltered.  Excision  of  one  kidney 
causes  no  notable  change  in  energy  transformation, 
the  damaging  effect  of  excision  of  the  kidneys  being 
due  to  the  accumulation  of  the  by-products  of  energy 
transformation.  In  short,  the  excision  or  impairment 
of  no  organ,  excepting  the  brain,  the  adrenals  and 
the  liver,  causes  an  immediate  and  notable  change  in 
the  histology  of  the  brain,  the  adrenals  or  the  liver, 
or  in  the  power  of  the  body  as  a  whole  to  transform 
energy,  except  where  some  specific  process  for  which 
one  of  these  organs  is  directly  responsible  is  concerned. 
We  conclude,  therefore,  that  only  the  brain,  the 
thyroid,  the  adrenals,  the  liver  and  the  muscles  are 
chiefly  concerned  in  the  transformation  of  energy. 

In  this  conception  we  find  a  possible  explanation  of 
many  normal  and  pathological  conditions  —  one  which 
possibly  may  point  the  way  to  new  and  more  effec- 
tive therapeutic  measures. 


PAET    III 

BIOLOGIC  INTERPRETATION  OF  PHENOM 
ENA  OF  HEALTH  AND  DISEASE 


209 


CHAPTER  VII 

DISEASES    OF   THE    KINETIC    SYSTEM 

THE  postulate  that  there  is  in  the  body  a  kinetic 
system,  consisting  mainly  of  certain  organs,  which  are 
driven  by  the  stimuli  of  the  outer  and  the  inner  environ- 
ments of  the  body,  throws  light  upon  many  problems 
of  the  medical  clinic,  as  well  as  of  human  relations. 
According  to  this  postulate,  the  body  is  a  mechanism 
integrated  and  driven  by  the  brain  in  response  to  ade- 
quate stimuli  —  contact,  distance  and  chemical  —  aris- 
ing within  and  without  the  body.  The  phenomena  of 
health  and  of  disease  are  manifestations  of  the  activity 
of  this  system.  When  the  body  mechanism  is  driven 
at  a  moderate  speed  by  an  environment  to  which  the 
capacity  of  the  body  is  perfectly  adjusted,  the  result 
may  be  compared  to  that  following  the  driving  of 
any  other  machine  by  a  careful  and  considerate  mas- 
ter —  a  maximum  of  work  done,  with  a  minimum  of 
wear  and  tear  on  the  parts.  When  for  a  short  period  of 
time  or  continuously  the  driving  is  at  an  excessive 
pace,  there  results  a  sudden  or  gradual  breakdown, 
involving  always  the  weakest  link  in  the  mechanism. 

When  the  kinetic  system  is  driven  at  an  overwhelm- 
ing speed  by  such  activations  as  severe  physical  injury, 
intense  emotional  excitation,  perforation  of  the  intes- 
tines, the  pointing  of  an  abscess  into  new  territory, 
the  sudden  onset  of  certain  infectious  diseases,  such  as 

211 


MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

cholera,  an  overdose  of  strychnin,  a  Marathon  race, 
a  grilling  fight,  foreign  proteins,  or  anaphylaxis,  there 
results  a  condition  of  acute  exhaustion,  clinically 
recognized  as  shock,  and  designated,  according  to 
its  precipitating  cause  :  traumatic  shock,  psychic  shock, 
toxic  shock,  infection  shock,  anaphylactic  shock,  drug 
shock,  etc.  Whatever  the  cause,  the  essential  pathology 
of  shock  is  identical  as  is  the  immediate  clinical  pic- 
ture, and  the  subsequent  slow,  halting  recovery  of 
strength  and  function. 

If  instead  of  a  single  intense  overwhelming  activa- 
tion there  is  a  continuous  abnormal  activation  of  the 
kinetic  system  by  one  or  more  stimuli,  there  is  pro- 
duced a  condition  equivalent  to  chronic  shock,  resulting 
in  either  a  diminished  or  an  excessive  activity  of  some 
one  or  more  organs.  According  to  the  particular  organs 
involved,  and  the  manner  of  their  involvement,  this 
condition  may  be  clinically  designated :  nervous  ex- 
haustion, neurasthenia,  insanity,  Graves1  disease,  myx- 
cedema,  goiter,  cardiovascular  disease,  diabetes,  Bright's 
disease,  apoplexy  or  acute  acidosis.  In  the  pathology 
of  all  these  diseases  we  may  find  facts  which  indi- 
cate that  they  are  closely  similar  in  origin,  course  and 
treatment. 

If,  as  rarely  happens,  no  part  of  the  organism  is 
weakened  or  broken  by  the  strain  of  continuous  exces- 
sive activation,  the  unusual  spectacle  of  excessive 
energy  transformation  is  presented  in  a  human  mech- 
anism which  outstrips  its  fellows  and  crushes  its  com- 
petitors —  one  of  the  most  amazing  sights  that  life 
has  to  offer.  Napoleon  presented  such  a  spectacle. 
We  may  Well  suppose  that  Caesar  and  Alexander 


KINETIC   DISEASES 

were  such  mechanisms.  Catherine  the  Great  and 
Cromwell  undoubtedly  were  cast  in  a  like  virile 
mold.  Many  of  our  conquerors,  captains  of  industry 
and  leaders  in  the  professions  have  been  such  dynamic 
mechanisms.  But  the  phenomenon  is  as  rare  as  it 
is  marvelous.  Even  where  victory  is  consummated, 
and  usually  long  before,  the  mechanism,  continuously 
subjected  to  heavy  stress,  shows  the  effects  of  strain 
in  the  weakening  of  some  one  link,  less  hardy  than  the 
rest,  and  "disease"  results  from  the  destruction  of 
the  balance  of  the  beautifully  adjusted  machinery  of 
normal  man. 

Perhaps  this  weakening  may  come  first  in  the  brain,  I 
from  whose  depressed  activity  there  results  a  slowing/1 
down  of  the  whole  mechanism  for  the  transformation! 
of  energy  and  a  lessening  of  strain  on  other  parts  of  y 
the  organism.     Such  a  general  effect  is  seen  after  the 
excessive  loss  of  cortical  and  cerebellar  brain-cells  as  a 
result  of  excessive  emotional  or  physical  strain,  or  of 
infection,     auto -intoxication,     injury    or    any    other 
kinetic  drive.     In  some  individuals  the  strain  of  over- 
activation  is  first  indicated  by  an  increased  activity 
of  the  thyroid  gland  with  a  consequent  increased  driving 
of  the  whole  mechanism  in  Graves'  disease.     Or  the 
liver  may  be  unable  to  bear  the  strain,  and  its  inability 
to  break  down  the  acid  by-products  of  energy  trans- 
formation may  cause  structural  changes  in  the  kidneys 
or  may  act  indirectly  as  one  of  the  causes  of  cardiovas- 
cular disease.     It  is  known  that  cardiovascular  disease 
may  result  from  acute  or  chronic  pyogenic  infection, 
from  auto-intoxication,  from  overwork,  from  chronic 
emotional  excitation  or  from  the  combination  of  two 


214     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

or  more  of  these  causes.  It  is  known  that  exophthal- 
mic goiter  may  follow  in  the  wake  of  an  unfortunate 
love  affair ;  of  a  long  strain  of  anxiety  in  connection 
with  the  illness  of  a  relative ;  of  overwork  and  worry ; 
and  that  it  may  result  from  acute  or  chronic  infection 
or  from  intestinal  auto-intoxication.  It  is  known  that 
chronic  intestinal  stasis,  with  the  resultant  absorption 
of  toxins,  may  cause  neurasthenia,  goiter  or  cardio- 
vascular disease. 

Not  only  are  the  positive  effects  of  organic  activity, 
as  seen  in  disease,  explained  by  the  kinetic  theory,  but 
the  action  of  certain  forms  of  treatment,  by  which 
the  organic  effects  of  intense  kinetic  activation  are 
modified  or  prevented,  may  be  explained  on  the  same 
basis.  These  forms  of  treatment  reduce  the  activity 
of  the  kinetic  mechanism  as  a  whole  by  limiting  the 
activity  of  some  one  link  in  the  kinetic  chain,  thus 
establishing  a  condition  of  inertia  or  negation  to  re- 
sponse which  is  eminently  conservative  of  energy  and 
restorative  in  effect.  Thus  traumatic  shock  can  be  mini- 
mized or  prevented  by  blocking  the  nerves  between  the 
brain  and  the  field  of  operation  by  local  anesthesia,  thus 
preventing  the  activation  of  the  brain  by  harmful  trau- 
matic stimuli.  In  like  manner,  by  depressing  brain  ac- 
tivity, deep  morphinization  minimizes  or  prevents  toxic 
shock  and  the  systemic  phenomena  of  acute  infections. 
This  principle  accounts  for  the  fact  that  exophthalmic 
goiter,  one  of  the  principal  kinetic  diseases,  is  modified 
or  cured  by  lessening  the  activity  of  the  thyroid  gland, 
by  the  ligation  of  one  or  more  blood  vessels  of  the 
gland,  or  by  the  excision  of  a  lobe,  by  severing  the 
sympathetic  nerve  supply  to  the  gland,  or,  without 


KINETIC   DISEASES  215 

operation,  by  as  far  as  possible  excluding  kinetic 
stimuli,  whether  of  psychic,  toxic  or  dietetic  origin. 
On  the  same  principle  may  be  explained  the  facts  that 
cardiovascular  disease  is  mitigated  by  morphia,  and 
that  certain  forms  of  opium  are  beneficial  in  diabetes. 

There  is  some  clinical  evidence  that  some  cases  of 
idiopathic  epilepsy,  a  remarkably  strong  kinetic  activa- 
tion, may  be  modified  but  not  cured  by  weakening  the 
kinetic  chain  by  excision  of  one  adrenal  and  perhaps 
of  a  part  of  the  other  adrenal,  division  of  the  nerve 
supply  of  the  thyroid,  excision  of  a  part  of  the  thyroid 
and  resection  of  the  sympathetic  nerve  trunks  in  the 
neck.  The  purpose  of  this  operation  is  to  diminish  the 
manifestation  of  epilepsy,  but  in  addition  one  result  is 
an  increase  of  sugar  tolerance.  If  we  can  at  will  in- 
crease sugar  tolerance,  might  not  such  an  operation  be 
of  value  in  the  treatment  of  diabetes?  Indeed,  on  a 
priori  grounds,  such  an  operation  should  improve  any 
chronic  disease  in  which  the  use  of  opium  gives  tem- 
porary relief. 

In  addition  to  these  facts  taken  from  the  medical 
clinic,  we  have  a  remarkable  array  of  data  drawn  from 
the  larger  but  no  less  reliable  clinic  of  life  itself,  which 
shows  that  many  of  this  large  group  of  diseases  which 
we  have  termed  kinetic  diseases  because  they  are  obvi- 
ously aggravated,  if  not  produced,  by  agencies  which 
activate  the  kinetic  system,  are  not  only  often  modified, 
but  frequently  cured,  and,  in  some  instances,  actually 
prevented,  by  circumstances  of  life,  by  states  of  mind, 
by  habits  and  by  forms  of  treatment  which,  like  anoci 
association  in  the  surgical  clinic,  operate  by  diminish- 
ing the  number  and  intensity  of  adequate  brain  stimuli. 


216     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

In  truth  some  of  our  most  interesting  evidence  re- 
garding the  workings  of  the  kinetic  system  is  found  in 
the  great  clinic  of  life  itself  —  in  contemplating  the 
long  list  of  human  ills  brought  about,  admittedly,  by 
"  wrong  ways  of  living/7  and  in  the  tendency  of  many 
harassed  and  overburdened  individuals  to  seek  relief 
from  activation  in  any  form  of  treat ment,  habit  or 
amusement,  which  may  prevent  the  activating  integration, 
just  as  in  a  surgical  operation  local  anesthesia  pre- 
vents the  integration  to  self -defensive  struggle  and  thus 
saves  the  brain-cells  from  self -destructive  activity. 
In  observing  the  benefits  derived  by  certain  sufferers 
from  " faith  cures/'  " mental  healing  "  and  other  cults, 
we  find  most  valuable  suggestions  for  the  formulation 
of  methods  by  which  the  kinetic  system  may  be  con- 
trolled under  certain  conditions. 

The  Adequate  Stimulus  of  Emotion 

Chief  among  the  agencies  which  activate  the  ki- 
netic system  are  muscular  exertion  and  emotion.  Ex- 
cessive activation  from  one  or  both  of  these  sources 
is  by  far  the  most  frequent  cause  of  chronic  shock. 
In  the  picture  of  the  effects  of  prolonged  fear  on 
the  rabbit  organism,  we  have,  in  epitome,  a  picture 
of  that  constant  unequal  struggle  between  the  organism 
and  the  ever  changing  environment,  which  is  the  funda- 
mental explanation  of  the  fact  that  the  whole  fabric 
of  human  relations  —  the  chafe  and  grind  of  poverty, 
disappointment,  grief,  thwarted  ambition,  unhappy 
love  affairs,  loneliness,  distrust,  envy,  competition, 
heavy  business  responsibilities,  anxiety,  uncertainty 
and  worry,  as  well  as  their  opposites,  joy,  hope,  faith, 


KINETIC   DISEASES 

realization  of  ambition,  and  affection  —  has  a  tre- 
mendous influence  upon  the  conditions  that  sustain  or 
destroy  life. 

As  we  have  seen,  emotion  is  the  physiological 
preparation  of  the  entire  organism  for  the  production 
of  one  or  another  of  the  great  primary  motor  acts  of 
running,  fighting  or  procreation.  In  the  consequent 
activation  there  are  thrown  into  the  blood  stream  large 
amounts  of  internal  activating  secretions  and  gly- 
cogen,  intended  for  consumption  in  the  muscles  in  the 
production  of  motion.  In  addition  to  this  "stoking 
up"  of  the  blood  stream,  there  is  a  specific  stimula- 
tion or  inhibition  of  every  organ  and  tissue  in  the 
body,  in  accordance  with  the  r61e  each  is  to  play  in 
the  intended  adaptive  muscular  response.  Blood  is 
transferred  from  the  parts  non-essential  to  muscular 
action  —  the  stomach,  intestines  and  genital  system  — 
and  concentrated  upon  the  machinery  necessary  to 
muscular  action  —  the  heart,  lungs,  central  nervous 
system  and  skeletal  muscles.  The  circulation  is  accel- 
erated, metabolism  is  increased ;  the  production  of 
waste  by-products  is  at  its  maximum;  the  breath 
comes  faster;  the  heart  beats  quickly;  the  skin  is 
moist  from  excessive  perspiration ;  the  limbs  tremble ; 
the  extremities  tingle ;  every  detail  of  the  intended 
muscular  action  is  simulated. 

In  man's  early  environment  there  was  no  break 
between  this  preparation  for  muscular  action  and  its 
consummation.  As  a  consequence,  there  was  much 
action  and  little  restraint  of  action  —  emotion  —  just 
as,  to-day,  when  action  ensues  precipitately  upon  a 
stimulus,  there  is  no  manifestation  of  fear,  anger  or 


218     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

sympathy.  In  the  modern  environment,  where  there 
is  a  minimum  of  action  and  a  maximum  of  restraint 
of  action,  man  is  in  auto-captivity  to  phylogenetic  tend- 
encies.  The  consequent  excessive  and  continuous 
stimulation  of  the  heart  and  blood  vessels,  of  the 
brain,  thyroid,  adrenals  and  liver,  together  with  the 
coincident  excessive  and  continuous  inhibition  of  the 
digestive  processes  and  the  accumulation  of  unused 
secretions  and  waste  products,  leads  frequently  to 
certain  organic  degenerations. 

An  interesting  phenomenon,  from  a  biologic  view- 
point, is  the  fact  that  it  is  in  man  more  often  than  in 
woman,  that  increased  energy  transformation  leads  to 
cardiovascular  disease,  diabetes  and  nephritis.  Man, 
more  than  woman,  is  subject  to  cardiovascular  and 
cardiorenal  disease ;  to  thrombo-angiitis  obliterans  and 
to  diabetes.  Woman,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  more 
frequent  sufferer  from  diseases  of  the  thyroid  gland. 
In  this  proneness  of  woman  to  diseases  of  the  thyroid 
and  of  man  to  diseases  caused  by  hypertension,  we 
have  a  curious  instance  of  pathologic  modification 
along  lines  of  adaptation. 

The  adrenals  preeminently  control  the  mechanism 
for  increasing  motor  efficiency  during  short  periods  of 
increased  transformation  of  energy.  The  adrenals  are 
the  organs  most  heavily  involved  in  muscular  work. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  thyroid  controls  the  mechanism 
which  regulates  energy  transformation  during  longer 
periods  of  increased  activation.  It  is  known  that  the 
thyroid  enlarges  during  sustained  periods  of  increased 
activity,  especially  during  infection,  adolescence  and 
pregnancy.  Throughout  the  ages  of  evolution,  the 


KINETIC   DISEASES  219 

male  has  been  chiefly  the  motor  member  of  the  family  ; 
he  has  been,  not  exclusively,  but  for  the  most  part,  the 
hunter,  the  fighter,  the  searcher  for  food,  —  activities 
which  have  required  increased  transformation  of  energy 
during  short  periods  of  time,  with  proportionally  heavy 
demands  upon  the  acid-neutralizing  mechanism  of  the 
body.  The  female,  on  the  other  hand,  has  borne  the 
burden  of  procreation  and  of  the  lighter  but  more  con- 
stant domestic  tasks,  and  has  been  correspondingly 
dependent  upon  the  mechanism  for  sustained  physio- 
logic efficiency,  represented  chiefly  by  the  thyroid. 
This  age-long  differentiation  may  conceivably  have 
led  to  a  corresponding  differentiation  in  the  physio- 
logic expression  of  emotion,  with  a  corresponding 
differentiation  in  the  diseases  caused  by  emotion. 
According  to  a  striking  statement  made  by  Loeb, 
"Man  and  woman  are,  physiologically,  different 
species." 

Often,  before  any  one  of  the  more  serious  diseases 
resulting  from  excessive  driving  of  the  mechanism  is 
apparent,  a  warning  may  be  discerned  in  the  onset  of 
some  lesser  disturbance,  such  as  chronic  dyspepsia, 
auto-intoxication,  disturbances  of  the  skin,  the  teeth 
and  the  hair.  The  increased  amounts  of  unused  secre- 
tions and  of  by-products  of  activity  tax  all  the  organs 
of  elimination,  including  the  skin.  It  is  not  surprising 
that  the  skin  of  many  highly  emotional  but  "intelli- 
gent" persons,  in  whom  we  presume  control  and  re- 
pression, should  exhibit  a  stained  and  sallow  appear- 
ance, should  become  odorous  and  oily,  or  cold,  moist 
and  covered  with  unsightly  blotches  and  pimples. 
The  skin  of  virtuous  girls,  subjected  to  the  continuous 


220     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

emotional  strain  of  a  long  engagement,  often  presents 
such  an  appearance.  The  transformation  that  takes 
place  after  marriage  may  be  striking.  Indigestion  dis- 
appears ;  the  appetite  returns ;  metabolism  increases ; 
the  cold,  clammy,  sticky,  yellowish,  pimply  skin  is  re- 
placed by  a  soft,  pink,  warm,  velvety  covering. 

Dentists  affirm  that  under  continued  strong  emotion 
the  character  of  the  saliva  changes,  pyorrhea  tends  to 
develop  and  teeth  rapidly  decay.  That  emotional 
strain  may  cause  the  hair  to  turn  gray  prematurely 
and  to  fall  out  is  a  common  tradition,  not  unsupported 
by  fact. 

If  emotion,  particularly  fear,  causes  such  far-reaching 
metabolic  disturbances,  why  does  it  not  produce  even 
more  baleful  consequences?  Indeed,  why  has  not 
emotion  wrecked  the  race?  Is  it  because  there  are 
now  certain  agencies  at  work  in  society,  which  hold 
in  check  this  harmful  tendency,  as  immunity  and 
phagocytosis  protect  the  organism  against  bacterial 
menace,  and  as  the  custom  of  wearing  clothes  and 
building  houses  is  a  protection  from  the  dangers  of 
wind  and  cold  and  hostile  strangers  ?  Has  there  been 
evolved  in  man  some  counter-adaptation  which  pro- 
vides a  partial  protection  against  self-destruction  from 
the  too  long  retained  motor  adaptation  which  we 
term  " emotion"? 

Fear  versus  Faith 

In  attempting  to  find  an  answer  to  these  questions, 
we  are  led  to  contemplate  the  fact  that  physical  benefit 
is  derived  from  those  factors  in  life,  which  solace  and 
reassure  the  mind,  which  " rejuvenate  the  spirit," 


KINETIC   DISEASES 

which  dispel  worry,  and  which  substitute  faith  and 
tranquillity  of  mind  for  turmoil  and  terror.  Many 
attempts  have  been  made  to  explain  the  universal 
desire  for  joy  and  recreation,  for  entertainment,  for 
diversion,  for  any  activity  or  mental  influence,  which 
changes  the  integration,  " diverts  attention"  from  the 
work  at  hand,  supplies  a  new  field  of  interest  or  closes 
the  mind  to  all  interest.  It  would  seem  that  a  key  to 
these  phenomena  might  be  found  in  the  very  fact  that 
emotion  has  the  power  to  harm  the  organism.  On  the 
principle  that  fear  causes  the  dissipation  and  faith  the 
conservation  of  potential  energy,  we  can  understand 
the  far-reaching  and  abiding  benefits  of  religion  in  all 
ages,  among  all  peoples,  throughout  the  whtflei  human 
race,  as  far  back  as  we  have  any  record.  We  can  un- 
derstand the  power  of  prayer  and  of  belief  in  a  Supreme 
Being  who  is  also  Redeemer  and  Solace,  to  put  "new 
life"  into  the  discouraged  and  faint-hearted,  and  its 
overwhelming  influence  for  good  upon  the  weak,  op- 
pressed and  sick-at-heart.  We  can  understand  the 
power  of  so-called  " faith  cures"  ;  of  beliefs  in  fetishes 
and  charms ;  even  of  the  faith  in  one's  own  physician, 
which  undoubtedly  plays  a  part  in  the  successful  out- 
come of  most  therapeutic  measures. 

This  principle  explains  the  striking  benefits  in  all 
situations  in  life  of  good  luck  and  success,  of  cheerful 
and  optimistic  friends,  of  congenial  occupations,  as- 
sociates and  surroundings.  It  explains  the  spectac- 
ular, successful  careers  of  certain  personalities  abound- 
ing in  health,  optimism  and  self-confidence,  the  value  of 
self-confidence  in  business,  and  the  wreckage  of  hopes  and 
fortune  which  often  attends  the  lack  of  these  qualities. 


222     MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Since  whatever  dispels  worry  and  uncertainty  helps 
to  stop  the  body-wide  activation  which  leads  to  lesions 
as  truly  physical  as  a  fracture,  we  can  understand  the 
therapeutic  significance  of  the  admonitions  to  "take  a 
vacation";  "go  abroad";  "go  fishing";  to  do  any- 
thing that  will  give  a  change  of  scene  and  occupation. 
On  this  basis  we  can  understand  the  desperate  tendency 
of  certain  sorely  driven  organisms  to  seek  forgetfulness 
in  alcohol  or  narcotic  drugs ;  of  others,  driven  beyond 
the  point  of  endurance,  to  settle  their  problems  finally 
by  suicide. 

Realizing  that  sedentary  occupations,  like  suppressed 
emotion,  produce  an  accumulation  of  harmful  products 
in  the  blood  stream,  we  can  understand  the  good  feeling 
that  follows  a  lively  game,  a  long  walk  or  exercise  in 
the  open  air  after  working  hours,  since  by  these  means 
is  accomplished  the  elimination,  by  oxidation  or  other- 
wise, of  much  of  the  superimposed  burden.  We  can 
understand  the  overwhelming  desire  in  time  of  anger 
or  worry  to  "walk  it  off"  or  to  "talk  it  out"  with  some- 
body. We  can  understand  the  value  to  the  physician 
of  psychic  analysis,  since  it  enables  him  to  get  at  the 
root  of  his  patient's  trouble  and  to  elicit  a  full  confes- 
sion, which,  in  itself,  brings  a  measure  of  relief. 

The  fact  that  the  lesions  wrought  by  suppressed 
integrations  to  activity  are  largely  the  same  for  other 
animals  as  for  man,  explains  why  the  fettered  wild 
animal  "pines  away"  and  dies  in  captivity,  or  grows 
"ugly"  and  "vicious";  and  why,  when  released  to 
liberty  and  its  natural  environment,  it  quickly  shows  a 
return  to  health  and  good  nature.  Considering  this 
tendency  of  the  kinetic  or  dynamic  organism  to  be 


KINETIC    DISEASES  223 

destroyed  by  its  own  adaptive  mechanism,  it  is  easy  to 
see  why  certain  adynamic  species,  such  as  the  turtle 
or  the  elephant,  survive  longer  than  animals  evolved 
for  intense  kinetic  activity,  such  as  the  deer  and  the 
rabbit ;  why,  generally  speaking,  the  expectancy  of 
life  is  greater  for  placid  individuals  than  for  those  of  an 
" explosive"  temperament;  why  the  calm  adynamic 
philosopher  outlasts  the  dynamic  iron-worker,  who, 
through  excessive  exertion,  breaks  early  a  link  in  his 
vital  chain ;  why  the  timid  individual,  who  thinks  his 
life  is  threatened  by  trivial  incidents  and  hence  avoids 
risk  and  responsibility,  outlasts  the  strenuous  and 
careless-of-self  individual,  who  goes  on  the  rocks  just 
past  middle  life. 

Thus  innumerable  phenomena  of  life  may  be  inter- 
preted by  applying  this  principle  of  the  antithetic 
actions  of  fear  and  faith ;  phenomena  not  only  of  the 
life  of  the  individual,  but  of  the  life  of  the  race  at 
large,  as  manifested  in  its  past  history,  in  political 
situations  of  to-day,  in  family  life ;  phenomena  which 
prove  invariably  that  the  conscious  processes  of  life, 
like  the  unconscious  processes  and  the  passive  modifi- 
cations of  the  structure  itself,  are  ,but  evidences  of 
nature's  mode  of  securing  survival  for  the  species. 
The  processes  of  " reason"  and  " instinct, "  like  the 
" protective  muscular  reflexes,"  the  pain  areas,  the 
phenomena  of  phagocytosis,  immunity  and  blood  clot- 
ting, are  merely  examples  of  the  workings  of  the  sys- 
tem which  secures  "survival  of  the  fittest."  In  thus 
placing  faith,  hope  and  charity  on  the  same  plane 
with  muscular  reflexes,  in  their  power  to  conserve  the 
life  of  the  race,  we  but  give  them  their  proper  place 


224     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

in  evolution  as  adaptations  which  have  arisen  coinci- 
dently  with  the  need  for  such  modifications.  And 
furthermore,  we  place  them  on  the  same  plane  with 
another  " conscious"  but  no  less  automatically  evolved 
adaptation  by  means  of  which  the  energy  of  the  indi- 
vidual is  conserved  —  the  application  of  the  principle 
of  anoci  association  in  surgery. 

Whatever  weakens  or  breaks  the  integration  of  the 
body  at  the  brain  link,  breaks  the  continuity  of  the 
kinetic  chain  and  diminishes  the  expenditure  of  energy, 
and  to  that  extent  is  a  conserver  of  life.  The  tech- 
nique of  anoci  association  was  the  outgrowth  of  a  study 
of  nature's  methods  of  adaptation.  It  does  not  seem 
too  much  to  expect  that  a  further  study  along  the  same 
lines  may  lead  to  a  further  understanding  of  the  rela- 
tions of  fear  and  faith  to  the  laws  of  life,  as  a  result  of 
which,  through  education  and  training,  the  principle  of 
faith  may  fulfill  as  useful  a  role  in  the  clinic  of  life  as 
is  fulfilled  in  the  clinic  of  surgery  by  anoci  association. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

KINETIC  DISEASES  —  Continued 

Graves'  Disease 

As  in  shock  the  kinetic  system  is  driven  to  the  point 
of  exhaustion  by  one  overwhelming,  intense  activation, 

-  injury,  emotion,  strychnin,  infection  or  anaphylaxis, 

-  so  in  Graves'  disease,  as  we  have  already  stated,  the 
kinetic  system  is  driven  by  a  continuous  activation,  as 
a  result  of  which  a  pathologic  interaction  is  established 
between  the  brain  and  the  thyroid,  whereby  the  thresh- 
old to  all  stimuli  is  kept  continuously  low.     In  shock 
an  immediate  collapse  of  every  function  in  the  body 
is  exhibited  with  visible  lesions  only  in  the  brain,  the 
adrenals   and    the  liver.     Graves'  disease   exhibits  a 
progressive  alteration  in  every  function,  leading  even- 
tually to  exhaustion,  with  visible  lesions  —  depending 
upon  the  duration  and  severity  of  the   disease  —  in 
every  organ  and  tissue  of  the  body ;  not  alone  in  the 
brain,  adrenals  and  liver  (Fig.  49),  but  in  the  heart  and 
blood  vessels,  the  muscles,  the  thyroid,   the  thymus, 
the  pancreas,   the  spleen,   the  lymphatics,  the   skin, 
the  skeletal  muscles,  the  teeth,  the  hair  and  the  bony 
skeleton.     Extreme  and   protracted  exhaustion  from 
excessive  exertion,  excessive  emotion  or  chronic  infec- 
tion causes  similar  lesions.     (Fig.  50.) 

In  other  words,  the  principal  phenomena  of  Graves' 

Q  225 


226     MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

disease  are  identical  with  the  leading  phenomena  of 
any  other  kinetic  activation  of  a  corresponding  dura- 
tion and  degree  of  intensity.  The  phenomena  of  fear, 


•» 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  human  cerebellum.       Section  of  human  cerebellum  after 
(After  accidental  death.)  death  from  exophthalmic  goiter. 

FIG.  49.  —  EFFECT  OF  EXOPHTHALMIC  GOITER  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF 
A  HUMAN  BEING. 

Note  the  loss  of  chromatic  material  in  all  and  the  evidences  of  deteriora- 
tion in  many  of  the  Purkinje  cells  in  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

anger,  sexual  excitation,  physical  exertion  as  in  athletic 
contests,  acute  overwork,  acute  infection — all  recapitu- 
late the  phenomena  of  Graves'  disease  and  produce  the 


KINETIC   DISEASES 


227 


same  lesions  in  the  brain,  adrenals  and  liver.  (Figs.  51, 
52,  53.)  Conversely,  many  of  these  activations  cause 
enlargement  or  hyperplasia  of  the  thyroid.  Thus, 
fear,  anger  and  sexual  love  cause  temporary  enlarge- 


/-. 


,**      .r 


-  ' 

* 


5*>%V< 

k#t.v 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  human  cerebellum.       Section  of  human  cerebellum  after 
(After  accidental  death.)  death  from  acute  septicemia. 

FIG.  50.  —  EFFECT  OF  ACUTE  SEPTICEMIA  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A 
HUMAN  BEING. 

A  widespread  loss  of  chromatic  material  and  the  almost  entire  disappear- 
ance of  some  Purkinje  cells  (indicated  by  arrows)  characterizes  B,  in  contrast 
to  the  well-stained,  intact  appearance  of  the  Purkinje  cells  in  A. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

ment  of  the  thyroid ;  there  is  hyperplasia  of  the  thy- 
roid in  pregnancy,  in  chronic  infections  and,  perhaps, 
in  intestinal  auto-intoxication  as  well. 


228     MAX       AX    ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

There  is  a  strong  resemblance  between  certain  aspects 
of  Graves'  disease,  of  iodism,  of  emotion  and  of  infec- 
tion. The  likeness  between  Graves'  disease  and  all 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  cerebellum  of  cat.       Section  of  cerebellum  of  cat  after 

infection. 

FIG.  51.  —  EFFECT  OF  INFECTION  (STREPTOCOCCAL)  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OP 

A  CAT. 

Note  the  marked  disintegration  of  the  Purkinje  cells  in  B. 
(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

types  of  excessive  emotion  is  not  surprising  in  view 
of  the  frequency  with  which  the  disease  is  traced  to  a 
nervous  origin.  For  of  all  activating  stimuli  re- 
sponsible for  Graves'  disease,  chronic  emotional  activa- 


KINETIC   DISEASES  229 

tion  and  infection  are,  perhaps,  the  most  dominant.  In 
many  cases  careful  inquiry  will  disclose  some  deeply 
intrenched  disturbing  emotional  factor  —  a  great  grief, 
the  existence  of  harassing  home  conditions,  poverty 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  adrenal  of  cat.  Section  of  adrenal  of  cat  after 

infection. 

FIG.    52.  —  EFFECT   OF   INFECTION   (STREPTOCOCCAL)    ON   THE  ADRENALS 

OF  A  CAT. 

Note  the  disappearance  of  nuclei,  the  general  loss  of  cytoplasm  and  the 
vacuolated  spaces  in  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

or  shame,  business  reverses,  overwhelming  responsi- 
bilities, an  unhappy  love  affair,  or  some  acutely  dis- 
tressing thought,  which  drives  the  kinetic  system 
incessantly.  In  my  own  experience,  in  cases  of 
Graves'  disease  for  the  causation  of  which  no  factor 


230     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

in  the  external  environment  can  be  held  responsible, 
the  internal  environment  has  usually  supplied  the 
disturbing  factor,  infection  or  auto-intoxication ,  for 
example.  I  have  never  known  a  case  of  Graves' 
disease  to  result  from  hard  physical  labor,  unattended 


A. 

Section  of  normal  liver  of  a  cat. 


Section  of  liver  of  a  cat  after 
infection. 


FIG.  53.  —  EFFECT  OF  INFECTION  (STREPTOCOCCAL)  ON  THE  LIVER  OF  A  CAT. 
Note  the  general  disappearance  of  cytoplasm  and  the  vacuolated  spaces 
inB. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

by   " psychic"   strain;    nor  from  energy  voluntarily 
and  naturally  expended. 

Whatever  the  exciting  cause  of  Graves'  disease, 
however,  whether  unusual  business  worry,  disappoint- 
ment in  love,  a  tragedy,  a  strong  fear,  the  illness  of  a 


KINETIC   DISEASES  231 

loved  one,  intestinal  auto-intoxication,  an  acute  or 
chronic  infection,  administration  of  excessive  doses 
of  iodin  or  thyroid  extract,  the  symptoms  are  identi- 
cal and  closely  resemble  the  phenomena  of  the  great 
primitive  emotions,  of  acute  infection  and  of  muscular 
exertion. 

After  chemical  stimulation  of  the  body  by  a  foreign 
protein  or  an  infection,  the  pulse  quickens,  the  blood- 
pressure  rises,  respiration  is  increased,  the  tempera- 
ture is  elevated,  digestion  is  inhibited,  metabolism  is 
increased  and  pathologic  changes  are  produced  in  the 
organs  of  the  kinetic  system  which  are  identical  with 
those  produced  by  emotion  or  physical  exertion.  In 
short,  there  is  a  period  of  hyper-stimulation  in  fever 
which  exactly  corresponds  to  the  period  of  hyper- 
stimulation  in  emotion,  and  signifies  the  preparation 
of  the  organism  for  self-defense  by  chemical  activity, 
just  as  emotion  signifies  the  preparation  of  the  organism 
for  self-defense  by  motor  activity.  It  has  been  proved 
that  the  increased  metabolism  following  upon  the  in- 
creased temperature  purifies  the  body  partially,  at 
least,  in  a  chemical  way  by  inhibiting  bacterial  growth 
and  probably  in  addition  by  causing  a  chemical  dis- 
integration of  toxic  proteins  into  harmless  substances 
which  are  eliminated. 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  as  if  fever  were  the  result  of 
a  driving  of  the  kinetic  mechanism  by  a  foreign  pro- 
tein or  infection  stimulus  for  purposes  of  self-defense 
by  the  splitting  up  of  the  molecules  of  the  foreign  pro- 
tein through  the  transformation  of  latent  energy  into 
heat ;  and  that  emotion  is  the  result  of  a  driving  of  the 
mechanism  by  a  psychic  stimulus  for  purposes  of  self- 


232     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

defense  by  muscular  action.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
would  seem  that  Graves'  disease  is  a  purposeless  driv- 
ing of  the  mechanism  by  some  obscure  stimulus  con- 
nected with  a  pathologic  alteration  in  the  function 
of  the  thyroid  which  is,  as  we  have  stated,  apparently 
the  pacemaker  of  the  kinetic  system. 

That  these  several  activations  involve  the  same 
mechanism  is  evidenced  further  by  many  other  points 
of  similarity  between  Graves'  disease  and  infections. 
The  likeness  of  the  phenomena  of  Graves'  disease  to 
those  of  chronic  infections,  particularly  of  tuberculosis, 
is  so  marked  that  it  is  not  at  all  uncommon  to  find 
diagnosticians  of  wide  experience  recommending  treat- 
ment for  tuberculosis  to  a  patient  with  Graves'  disease 
and  an  operation  for  Graves'  disease  to  a  patient  with 
tuberculosis.  In  two  different  cases  of  the  same  degree 
of  intensity,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  distinguish  the 
case  of  Graves'  disease  from  the  case  of  tuberculosis. 
Sometimes,  both  conditions  may  be  present  in  the 
same  patient.  The  following  symptoms  are  common 
to  both  Graves'  disease  and  tuberculosis ;  tachycardia, 
increased  respiration,  flushed  face,  tremors,  persistent 
slight  fever,  nervousness,  rapid  loss  of  weight,  digestive 
disturbances,  hyperplasia  of  the  thyroid  and  of  the 
lymph  glands  and  enlargement  of  the  heart.  Even 
at  autopsy  the  lesions  —  barring  the  tuberculosis 
focus  itself  —  may  be  so  nearly  identical  in  the  two 
cases  as  to  baffle  differentiation.  In  tuberculosis  as  in 
Graves'  disease,  the  entire  kinetic  system  is  over-driven. 

Thus,  the  kinetic  theory  of  Graves'  disease,  of  infec- 
tion and  of  emotion  supplies  a  possible  biologic  interpre- 
tation of  the  induction  of  these  states,  of  their  mutual 


KINETIC   DISEASES  233 

resemblance  and  of  the  method  of  their  control.  All 
are  modified  by  rest ;  all  are  temporarily  controllable 
by  morphia;  all  cause  increased  H-ion  concentration 
in  the  blood,  and,  therefore,  tax  heavily  the  organs  of 
acid  neutralization,  namely,  the  respiratory  center,  the 
kidneys,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver.  The  increased 
respiratory  rate  in  each  of  these  conditions  is  accounted 
for  by  the  specific  stimulative  effect  of  the  increased  H-ion 
concentration  of  the  blood  on  the  respiratory  center.  The 
demand  for  neutralization  of  the  increased  acidity 
incident  to  emotion,  exertion,  infection  or  Graves' 
disease  is  met  by  increased  activity  of  the  adrenals 
and  liver.  If  the  acidity  increases  so  rapidly  that 
neutralization  cannot  keep  pace  with  it,  then  nephri- 
tis may  result  from  the  action  of  the  acid  by-products 
upon  the  kidneys.  Hence,  in  emotion,  in  infections  and 
in  Graves'  disease,  albumin  and  casts  are  frequently 
found  in  the  urine  and  in  extreme  cases,  acute  acidosis 
may  develop.  The  acidosis  of  emotion,  of  infection  and 
of  Graves'  disease  is  evidenced  in  each  case  by  thirst. 
The  cycles  of  vomiting  in  Graves'  disease  are  caused 
by  acidosis,  which  is  the  most  common  cause  of  death  in 
this  disease. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  continued  lymphocytosis 
is  common  to  both  Graves'  disease  and  tuberculosis. 
By  the  production  of  lymphocytes  the  body  defends 
itself  against  infection.  Why,  then,  the  lymphatic 
hyperplasia,  indicative  of  overwork,  in  Graves'  disease 
in  the  absence  of  infection?  It  is  possible  that  the 
protective  role  played  by  the  thyroid  in  all  infections 
is  not  that  usually  assigned  to  it,  —  namely,  neutral- 
ization of  bacteria  or  toxins  by  direct  action  of  the 


234     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

thyroid  secretion  upon  the  foreign  protein,  -  -  but 
through  the  action  of  thyroid  secretion  upon  the  lym- 
phatics, simultaneously  with  its  effect  upon  the  other 
self-defensive  mechanisms.  If  this  be  true,  there 
should  be  less  or  no  lymphocytosis  in  infection  in  an 
individual  with  myxoedema  or  in  a  cretin.  Thus,  in 
the  immediate  symptoms  and  in  the  end  effects,  even 
to  the  resulting  acidosis  and  pathologic  lesions,  we 
find  a  close  resemblance  in  the  essential  phenomena  of 
exertion,  emotion,  infection  and  Graves'  disease,  a  fact 
which  tends  strongly  to  uphold  the  kinetic  theory. 

Certain  Resemblances  between  Cardiovascular  Disease 
and  Graves'  Disease 

The  analogy  between  diseases  of  the  thyroid  and 
diseases  involving  the  adrenals  is  borne  out  by  many 
clinical  points.  Certain  cases  of  Graves7  disease  and 
of  cardiovascular  disease  present  a  particularly  strong 
likeness  to  each  other.  Each  of  these  conditions  bears 
an  intimate  relation  to  foreign  protein  activation  and 
to  " nervous  strain."  The  etiology  of  Graves'  disease 
is  much  the  same  as  that  of  cardiovascular  disease  if 
perhaps  in  the  former  case  problems  of  the  home  be 
substituted  for  problems  of  business.  In  each  of  these 
diseases  a  recall  of  the  unhappy  circumstances  or  condi- 
I  tions  which  led  to  or  precipitated  the  acute  stage,  is  suf- 
ficient  to  cause  an  exacerbation  of  all  its  symptoms. 
The  most  efficient  non-surgical  means  by  which  each  of 
these  diseases  may  be  modified  are  rest,  diversion, 
change  of  scene  and  occupation.  In  each  the  secretion 
of  the  more  closely  related  gland  seems  to  bear  a  specific 
relation  to  the  production  of  the  disease.  For  instance, 


KINETIC    DISEASES  235 

the  cardinal  symptoms  of  Graves'  disease  may  be  pro- 
duced in  a  normal  person  by  the  excessive  administra- 
tion of  thyroid  extract,  and  in  the  patient  with  Graves' 
disease  the  administration  of  thyroid  extract;  even  in 
small  quantities,  causes  an  immediate  exacerbation  of 
the  symptoms.  In  like  manner ,  adrenin,  when  con- 
tinuously administered  to  a  normal  animal,  is  said  to 
produce  lesions  similar  to  arterio-sclerosis,  and  it  ag- 
gravates the  symptoms  of  cardiovascular  disease  when 
given  to  a  patient  with  that  disease.  Like  results  can- 
not be  obtained  by  the  administration  of  the  secretion 
of  any  other  gland  in  the  body.  In  Graves'  disease 
the  thyroid  is  always  enlarged ;  in  cardiovascular 
disease,  the  adrenals  in  many  instances  are  enlarged. 

Moreover,  since  in  Graves'  disease  immediate  im- 
provement follows  any  measure  by  which  the  activity 
of  the  thyroid  gland  is  depressed,  i.e.,  division  of 
nerve  supply,  lessening  of  vascular  supply,  removal  of 
a  lobe,  removal  of  general  causes  of  activation  by  rest, 
diversion,  change  of  scene  and  dietetic  control,  it  is 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  condition  of  the  patient 
with  cardiovascular  disease  also  would  be  improved 
by  any  means  which  would  depress  the  activity  of  the 
kinetic  system  —  especially  of  the  adrenals.  The 
most  efficient  treatment  now  employed  in  cardiovas- 
cular disease  consists  in  depressing  cerebral  activity 
by  means  of  prolonged  rest,  diversion  and  dietetic 
control,  but  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  more  striking 
and  immediate  benefit  might  be  secured  by  depressing 
the  activity  of  the  adrenals  directly  by  dividing  their 
nerve  supply  or  removing  a  portion  of  the  glands. 
This  belief  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  in  our 


236     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

experiments,  cats  and  rabbits,  in  which  the  nerve  supply 
to  the  adrenals  had  been  divided,  after  recovery  from 
the  operation  showed  no  evidence  of  an  increased  out- 
put of  adrenin  after  intense  psychic  or  toxic  activa- 
tion which  in  normal  animals  caused  a  large  increase 
of  the  adrenin  output.  There  is  as  yet  no  convincing 
proof  that  increased  activity  of  the  adrenals  alone 
causes  cardiovascular  disease,  but  there  is  evidence  that 
the  adrenals  play  an  important  r61e  in  the  causation  of 
that  disease. 

Note  on  Arterio-sclerosis 

The  literature  on  the  etiology  of  arterio-sclerosis  is  a 
long  record  of  superlative  stimulations  and  deep  de- 
pressions —  a  story  of  great  risks  taken  and  great  losses 
borne ;  of  heavy  burdens  carried  and  long  strains  en- 
dured ;  of  vast  responsibilities  assumed ;  of  excessive 
dissipations ;  of  chronic  infection ;  of  auto-intoxica- 
tion ;  of  overindulgence  in  food  and  intoxicants ;  of 
great  joys  and  great  griefs;  of  hopes,  anxieties  and 
despair.  It  is  essentially  a  story  of  the  modern  world ; 
of  power  and  progress  and  success;  of  liberty  and 
luxury  and  of  their  antitheses ;  of  mental  tolerance  com- 
bined with  bitter,  crushing  oppression.  The  contem- 
plative scholar  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  bucolic  Swede, 
the  wandering  Scotch  bard,  the  Italian  peasant, 
probably  rarely  knew  arterio-sclerosis,  except  as  the 
logical  accompaniment  of  a  ripe  old  age.  The  director 
of  vast  financial  enterprises,  the  man  who  holds  the 
fates  of  thousands  in  his  hand,  he  who  carries  tremen- 
dous physical  burdens :  the  Chinese  coolie,  the  Japanese 
rickshaw  man,  the  athlete  of  the  western  world,  the 


KINETIC   DISEASES  237 

emotional  American,  the  excitable  Jew,  the  bank 
president,  the  bon  vivant,  —  these  are  the  men  whose 
days  are  shortened  by  early  hardening  of  the  arteries ; 
who  preempt  to  themselves  the  cardiovascular  and, 
likewise,  the  cardiorenal  diseases.  The  superlatively 
emotional  Jew,  besides  being  a  frequent  victim  of 
cardiovascular  disease,  is  likewise  a  frequent  sufferer 
from  the  allied  condition,  endarteritis  obliterans. 
Among  animals  the  high-spirited  wild  animals  in  cap- 
tivity, the  mettlesome  race  horse,  and  the  dray  horse, 
fretted  and  driven  often  beyond  its  capacity,  are  fre- 
quent sufferers  from  cardiovascular  disease.  The  som- 
nolent, unfettered  cow  is  exempt. 

Note  on  Thrombo-angiitis  Obliterans 

The  likeness  of  thrombo-angiitis  obliterans  (endar- 
teritis obliterans)  to  cardiovascular  disease  and  other 
kinetic  diseases  is  shown  by  many  interesting  clinical 
facts.  This  disease  is  characterized  by  a  gradual 
obliteration  of  the  arteries,  leading  to  progressive 
anemia  with  dry  gangrene  of  the  extremities,  first  of 
the  digits,  then  of  the  feet  and  hands,  and  finally  of 
the  major  portions  of  the  limbs.  It  occurs  in.  the  most 
active  period  of  life  of  the  males  of  those  races  and 
individuals  who  preeminently  are  exponents  of  the 
"  strenuous  life,"  a  high  percentage  of  victims  of  this 
disease  being  found  among  the  Jews.  Its  early  stages 
are  marked  by  cycles  of  phenomena  which  bear  a 
definite  relation  to  nerve  strain,  to  overwork  and,  par- 
ticularly, to  emotional  excitation.  The  first  symptom 
is  a  sensation  of  cold;  numbness  arid  tingling  in  the 
extremities,  being  followed,  as  the  disease  progresses, 


238     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

by  pain  in  these  parts  and  not  infrequently  by  head- 
ache. In  this  early  stage  nitroglycerin  often  gives 
temporary  relief.  Increased  psychic  strain  causes  a 
corresponding  aggravation  of  the  symptoms.  As  the 
disease  progresses,  there  is  continued  numbness;  the 
pulsations  of  the  supplying  artery  become  weaker ;  nu- 
trition fails  and  slow  atrophy  of  the  parts  follows. 
The  entire  limb  behaves  as  if  the  blood  supply  were 
being  gradually  and  at  first  intermittently  shut  off  by 
a  clamp  —  a  clamp  opened  now  and  again,  but  finally 
closed  altogether. 

In  the  early  stages  of  certain  cases  the  patient  may 
improve  or  even  recover  if  he  takes  a  long  pleasant 
vacation  or  is  buoyed  up  by  new  hopes  and  helpful 
developments  in  his  business.  But  if  the  environment 
is  not  changed,  there  is  the  same  inevitable  progress  to 
destruction  as  under  the  same  conditions  is  induced  in 
Graves'  disease,  cardiovascular  disease  or  diabetes. 
The  same  influences  that  modify  these  diseases,  in 
like  manner  and  to  the  same  extent  modify  thrombo- 
angiitis  obliterans.  A  return  to  the  original  activating 
environment  or  a  recall  of  the  original  harmful  stimulus 
may  precipitate  a  return  of  the  vicious  circle. 

The  tendency  to  relapse  produced  by  nod  association 
(harmful  recall)  is  illustrated  by  a  woman  who  to  a 
marked  degree  exhibited  the  symptoms  of  this  disease. 
A  trip  abroad  was  prescribed  and  taken ;  and  during 
three  months  of  pleasant  travel,  the  patient  experienced 
no  symptoms.  On  her  return  she  thought  she  was  well, 
until  one  day,  while  motoring  in  the  city,  she  saw  a 
man  killed  by  a  street  car.  She  directed  her  chauffeur 
to  drive  on,  but  not  before  she  had  caught  a  glimpse 


KINETIC   DISEASES  239 

of  the  mangled  form.  The  sight  was  all  the  stimulus 
needed  to  bring  an  instant  return  of  the  familiar 
symptoms.  Within  a  few  minutes,  she  experienced 
again  the  pressure  in  the  head,  the  headache,  the 
numbness,  the  coldness  and  tingling  of  the  feet  —  all 
the  symptoms  from  which  she  had  been  nearly  free  for 
eight  months.  The  symptoms  continued  throughout 
the  day  and  passed  away  gradually. 

In  all  the  kinetic  diseases  environmental  stimuli 
similar  to  those  which  caused  or  bore  a  part  in  the 
causation  of  the  disease  tend  to  exaggerate  or  —  if 
convalescence  is  well  established  —  to  reproduce  the 
phenomena  of  the  disease.  For  instance,  in  a  patient 
with  cardiovascular  disease  any  reference  to  business 
perplexities  —  a  problem  calling  for  close  considera- 
tion, a  telegram  asking  for  advice  or  decision  upon  a 
proposed  business  move  —  is  sufficient  to  recall  the 
activating  nod  association,  which  was  the  original 
source  of  the  disease.  The  brain  of  the  sufferer  pre- 
sents a  low  threshold  to  the  specific  adequate  stimulus. 
As  the  steady  dropping  of  water  upon  the  same  spot  on 
the  surface  of  the  body  by  summation  of  stimuli  causes 
gradually  increasing  pain  until  the  state  of  exhaustion 
is  reached,  so  the  continued  activation  of  the  kinetic 
system  by  business  cares,  by  professional  burdens,  by 
chronic  infection  or  by  emotional  strain  leads  to  sum- 
mation of  stimuli  and  final  breakdown. 

Note  on  Bright's  Disease 

In  the  great  strain  laid  upon  the  organs  of  reduction 
and  elimination  by  the  excessive  production  of  by- 
products in  emotional  activation,  physical  exertion 


240     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

and  infections  we  may  have  a  key  to  the  cause  of 
Bright's  disease.  We  have  shown  by  experiment  that 
in  frightened  rabbits,  enraged  cats  and  traumatized 
dogs  the  kinetic  system  can  be  driven  at  such  a  rate  of 
speed  that  the  organism  is  unequal  to  the  task  of 
neutralizing  the  too  rapidly  formed  acid  by-products 
so  that  they  can  be  eliminated  without  injury  to  the 
kidneys.  In  addition,  we  have  shown  that  when  the 
activity  of  the  brain  has  been  depressed  by  morphia 
the  rate  of  transformation  of  energy  is  decreased,  and 
the  production  of  acid  by-products  correspondingly 
lessened.  .  If,  as  seems  probable,  the  adrenals  and  the 
liver  are  the  most  important  agents  by  which  the  re- 
duction of  acid  by-products  is  accomplished,  then  an 
habitual  failure  of  these  organs  to  perform  this  function 
might  lead  to  an  accumulation  of  harmful  compounds, 
which  would  directly  facilitate  tissue  degeneration  in 
the  kidneys,  thus  causing  nephritis.  In  Bright's  dis- 
ease hyperplasia  of  the  adrenal  glands  is  frequently 
seen. 

Note  on  Diabetes 

The  more  powerful  excitants  of  the  kinetic  system 
cause  an  increased  output  of  adrenin,  which  in  turn 
causes  the  mobilization  of  the  glycogen  stored  in  the 
liver  so  that  among  other  results  of  excessive  kinetic 
activation,  glycosuria  is  produced.  While  glycosuria  is 
not  diabetes,  it  may  represent  a  step  toward  this  disease, 
and  one  would  expect,  therefore,  that  the  kinetic  drive 
which  in  one  individual  causes  a  lesion  of  the  thyroid, 
in  another  of  the  brain  and  in  another  of  the  adrenals, 
might  in  others  produce  diabetes.  That  this  is  so  is 


KINETIC   DISEASES 

shown  by  the  fact  that  diabetes  is  aggravated  by  the 
conditions  which  increase  psychic  strain,  and  lessened 
by  conditions  which  obviate  psychic  strain.  The 
identification  of  the  common  causes  of  diabetes  with  , 
the  common  causes  of  Graves'  disease  may  explain  why 
in  the  words  of  a  certain  phrase  maker,  "when  stocks 
go  down  in  New  York,  diabetes  goes  up  "  ;  why  diabetes 
is  more  commonly  found  in  large  cities,  among  indi- 
viduals and  races  who  are  constantly  under  a  strain  of 
business  perplexities,  and  who  are  constantly  within 
sight  and  hearing  of  thousands  of  irritating  and  harass- 
ing episodes ;  and  why  it  is  rare  in  localities  where 
leisurely  and  quiet  ways  of  life  prevail.  In  the  fact 
that  here,  again,  the  emotional  trade-driven  Jew  is  a 
frequent  sufferer,  we  have  pertinent  matter  for  con- 
sideration. 

Since  diabetes  not  only  numbers  among  its  common 
causes  the  common  causes  of  other  kinetic  diseases, 
but  as  in  the  case  of  Graves7  disease,  arteriosclerosis, 
neurasthenia,  etc.,  is  improved  by  rest,  diversion  and 
dietetic  control,  one  might  expect  that  as  the  depres- 
sion of  the  activity  of  one  or  more  of  the  kinetic  organs 
has  proved  beneficial  in  other  kinetic  diseases,  so  surgi- 
cal measures  might  be  of  avail  in  the  treatment  of 
diabetes  also. 


CHAPTER  IX 

ANOCIATION  1 

IN  the  prevention  of  surgical  shock  by  anociation 
we  have  the  most  convincing  test  of  the  practical 
application  of  the  kinetic  theory.2  In  surgical  shock 
the  kinetic  system  is  driven  to  the  point  of  exhaustion 
by  an  acute  overwhelming  activation  leading  to  acute 
acidosis,  the  result  either  of  physical  injury  alone,  or  of 
physical  injury  in  combination  with  preoperative  fear. 
Since  shock  differs  only  in  degree  from  any  other  acti- 
vation of  the  kinetic  system  by  physical  or  chemical 
stimuli,  the  prevention  of  shock  must  depend  upon  the 
possibility  of  preventing  or  diminishing  the  number  and 
intensity  of  the  stimuli  which  enter  the  brain  by  way  of 
either  contact  or  distance  ceptors.  (Figs.  54,  55,  56.) 
Such  an  isolation  of  the  brain  is  secured  in  anociation 
(absence  of  harmful  association)  by  dulling  preopera- 
tive sensibility  to  all  psychic  impressions  by  personal 
management  and,  if  required,  by  a  preoperative  ad- 
ministration of  sedatives ;  by  general  inhalation  anes- 
thesia, which  blocks  the  distance  ceptors;  and  by 
blocking  the  afferent  nerve  paths  in  the  field  of  opera- 
tion by  means  of  local  anesthesia. 

1  Hereafter  the  term  anociation  will  be  substituted  for  the  more 
cumbersome  expression  —  anoci  association. 

8 1  wish  to  state  here  that  the  statement  made  by  certain  writers 
that  I  have  ever  proposed  an  inclusive  vase-motor  theory  of  shock  is 
erroneous. 

242 


ANOCIATTON 


- 


<  : 


'  «•*  £4 

•     **' 

A   •   I  *f4*      . 

.     ^   "    *    ffa 

*     '   „*•!  "'   .         .       ** 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  cerebellum  Section  of  cerebellum  of  dog  after 

of  dog.  surgical  trauma. 

FIG.  54.  —  EFFECT  OF  SURGICAL  TRAUMA  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A  DOG. 

Compare  the  hypochromatic  appearance  of  the  Purkinje  cells  in  B  with 
the  deeply  colored,  intact  cells  in  A. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

Since  protection  of  the  patient  against  fear-producing 
stimuli  before  the  operation  depends  largely  upon  the 
details  of  his  reception  at  the  hospital,  no  less  than 
upon  his  reception  in  the  surgeon's  own  office,  and  upon 


244     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

his  preparation  for  operation,  the  intelligent  coopera- 
tion and  understanding  of  every  member  of  the  surgi- 
cal and  hospital  staff  is  indispensable  to  a  realization 
of  a  perfected  anociation. 


Section  of  normal  adrenal  of  dog.          Section  of  adrenal  of  dog  after 

surgical  trauma. 

FIG.  55.  —  EFFECT  OF  SURGICAL  TRAUMA  ON  THE  ADRENALS  OF  A  DOG. 

Compare  A  and  B,  noting  the  marked  signs  of  disintegration  in  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

If  the  natural  fear  of  the  approaching  ordeal,  which 
is  felt  by  every  normal  individual,  be  augmented  by 
tactless  words  in  the  surgeon's  consulting  room,  by  an 


ANOCIATION 


245 


Section  of  normal  liver  of  dog. 


Section  of  liver  of  dog  after 
surgical  trauma. 


FIG.  56.  —  EFFECT  OF  SURGICAL  TRAUMA  ON  THE  LIVER  OF  A  DOG. 
Note  the  vacuolated  spaces,  the  disappearance  of  nuclei  and  general  dis- 
integration of  cells  in  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

ungracious  reception  at  the  hospital,  by  inconsiderate 
treatment  on  the  part  of  interne,  nurse  or  orderly,  by 
the  sound  of  clanking  instruments  or  by  the  rough  or 
forced  administration  of  an  anesthetic,  then  the  re- 


246     MAN  — AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


sistance  of  the  patient,  already  lowered  by  his  diseased 
condition,  will  be  still  further  lowered.  No  matter 
how  perfect  and  non-shocking  the  actual  operative 
technique  itself  may  be,  the  outcome  will  be  prejudiced 
by  these  early  adverse  factors.  (Figs.  57,  58.) 

If,  however,  the  preoperative  environment  of  the 
patient  be  free  from  all  but  the  most  beneficent  sug- 
gestions ;  if  his  nerves  be  calmed  and  his  consciousness 
dulled  by  the  preoperative  administration  of  a  sedative  ; 


TEMPERATURE. 

1OO 

i      i      i      i 

,   .  ,  Jos 

UNDER   ORDINARY 
CONDITIONS 

AFTER  FOURTH  OP  JULY 
CELEBRATION 

— 

FIG.  57.  —  CHART  SHOWING  EFFECT  OF  EMOTIONAL  EXCITEMENT  ON  THE 

TEMPERATURE. 

As  a  result  of  a  Fourth  of  July  celebration,  the  children  in  a  ward  at 
Lakeside  Hospital  showed  an  average  increase  in  temperature  of  1|  degrees  F. 

if  a  non-suffocating,  odorless  inhalation  anesthetic  be 
employed ;  if,  during  the  course  of  the  operation,  every 
division  of  sensitive  tissue,  be  preceded  by  the  injec- 
tion of  a  local  anesthetic  to  cut  off  from  the  brain  all 
injurious  afferent  impulses ;  and  if  this  be  followed 
by  the  injection  of  a  second  local  anesthetic  to  protect 
the  patient  against  the  painful  period  of  postoperative 
adjustment ;  and  if  gentle  manipulation  and  sharp 
dissection  be  used,  — if  all  these  measures  be  employed, 
the  patient  will  be  protected  against  all  damaging  fac- 
tors except  those  inherent  in  the  diseased  or  injured 
condition  from  which  he  is  seeking  relief. 


ANOCIATION 


247 


FIG.  58.  —  CHARTS  SHOWING  EFFECT  OF  FEAR  UPON  THE  PULSE. 

The  patient,  a  foreigner,  was  brought  to  the  operating  room  from  the 
accident  ward,  pulse  and  temperature -normal.  When  he  found  himself  in 
the  operating  room  he  was  greatly  disturbed.  It  was  impossible  to  make 
him  understand  that  his  leg  was  not  to  be  amputated,  but  only  a  plaster 
cast  applied.  Under  the  stimulus  of  fear  his  pulse  rose  to  150,  and  he  soon 
developed  a  temperature  of  101.2  degrees. 


248     MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

To  secure  complete  freedom  from  noxious  physical 
and  psychic  stimuli  throughout  the  whole  course  of  the 
operation,  no  one  anesthetic  is  entirely  adequate,  any 
more  than  one  set  of  rules  of  conduct  is  applicable  to 


$&£ 
*&**• 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  cere-       Section  of  cerebellum        Section  of  cerebellum 
bellum  of  dog.  of  dog  after  continuous    of   dog   after   the    con- 

administration  of  ether    tinuous   administration 
for  four  hours.  of  nitrous  oxid  for  four 

hours. 

FIG.  59.  —  COMPARATIVE  EFFECTS  OF  ETHER  AND  OF  NITROUS  OXID  ON 

THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  DOGS. 

Compare  the  hypochromatic  and  disorganized  appearance  of  the  Purkinje 
cells  in  B  with  the  hyperchromatic  Purkinje  cells  in  C. 
(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

the  handling  of  every  case.  An  intelligent  selection- 
and  careful  combination  of  anesthetics,  adjusted  to  the 
needs  of  the  individual  patient,  is  the  rule. 

As  a  general  anesthetic  in  routine  cases,  nitrous 
oxid-oxygen  is  preferred  to  ether,  for  many  reasons.     It 


ANOCIATION 


249 


is  odorless  and  non-suffocating ;  a  few  inhalations  are 
sufficient  to  induce  unconsciousness ;  it  is  less  likely 
to  produce  nausea  than  is  ether ;  and  laboratory  experi- 
ments and  clinical  experience  have  shown  that  by  the 


A.  B.  c. 

Section  of  normal            Section  of  adrenal  of         Section  of  adrenal  of 
.adrenal  of  dog.           dog  after  continuous  ad-  dog  after  continuous  ad- 
ministration of  ether  for  ministration  of  nitrous 
four  hours.  oxid  for  four  hours. 

FIG.  60.  —  COMPARATIVE  EFFECTS  OF  ETHER  AND  OF  NITROUS  OXID  ON 
THE  ADRENALS  OF  DOGS. 

Note  the  disappearance  of  cytoplasm  and  of  some  nuclei  and  the  irregular 
shapes  of  other  nuclei  in  B  as  compared  with  the  general  conservation  of 
cytoplasm  and  the  well-shaped  abundant  nuclei  in  C. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

use  of  nitrous  oxid  the  organs  of  the  kinetic  system  are 
actually  to  a  large  extent  protected  against  exhaustion 
from  the  traumatic  impulses  of  the  operation.  (Figs.  59, 
60,  61.)  Ether,  however  skillfully  administered,  in- 
duces a  period  of  psychic  stress  in  the  earlier  stages  of 


250     MAN  — AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


its  administration ;  it  immediately  impairs  the  im- 
munity of  the  patient,  since  it  anesthetizes  the 
phagocytes  as  well  as  the  patient,  and  leaves  the 
organism  in  the  position  of  a  citadel  threatened  by 


A. 

Section  of  the  normal 
liver  of  a  dog. 


B. 

Section  of  liver  of  a 
dog  after  the  continuous 
administration  of  ether 
for  four  hours. 


C. 

Section  of  liver  of  a 
dog  after  the  continuous 
administration  of  ni- 
trous oxid  for  four  hours. 


FIG.  61.  —  COMPARATIVE   EFFECTS  OF  ETHER  AND  OF  NITROUS  OXID 
ON  THE  LIVERS  OF  DOGS. 

Although  the  conservative  effect  of  nitrous  oxid  is  not  as  evident  in  the 
liver  as  in  the  adrenals  or  the  cerebellum,  yet  here  also  the  disappearance 
of  cell  substance  and  of  nuclei  is  much  more  marked  in  B  than  in  C. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

attack  while  its  defenders  lie  drunk  in  the  trenches ; 
it  also  extends  the  coagulation  time  of  the  blood  and 
makes  the  danger  from  hemorrhage  more  certain. 
Being  a  fat  solvent,  ether  dissolves  many  of  the  lipoids 
in  the  brain,  the  renal  epithelium,  the  liver  and  else- 


ANOCIATION  251 

where,  thus  increasing  the  amount  of  waste  products 
to  be  eliminated,  laying  a  heavier  task  upon  the 
kidneys,  and  incidentally  increasing  the  liability  to 
pneumonia,  embolism  and  nephritis.  In  addition, 
prolonged  etherization  causes  striking  histologic 
changes  in  the  brain,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver. 

In  the  choice  of  the  anesthetic,  however,  it  should 
be  emphasized  that  the  patient  is  the  first  consideration, 
not  the  prejudice  of  the  surgeon  for  a  certain  method. 
If  nitrous  oxid-oxygen  does  not  fully  anesthetize  the 
patient,  as  may  happen  in  some  cases  and  frequently 
happens  with  inebriates,  then  sufficient  ether  to  attain 
the  desired  end  should  be  added.  It  should  also  be 
borne  in  mind  always  that  while  nitrous  oxid-oxygen 
is  the  safest  of  all  anesthetics  in  the  hands  of  an  expert 
in  the  technique  of  its  administration,  it  is  perhaps  the 
most  unsafe  in  the  hands  of  the  inexperienced  and  there- 
fore should  never  be  administered  except  by  an  anesthetist 
specially  trained  in  its  use.  In  over  14,000  administra- 
tions of  nitrous  oxid  by  the  specially  trained  anesthe- 
tists on  my  staff,  there  has  been  no  death. 

With  the  increasing  efficiency  of  the  hospital  organ- 
ization and  the  growing  knowledge  of  the  wonderful 
qualities  of  nitrous  oxid,  preoperative  sedatives  are 
required  less  and  less. 

The  peace  of  mind  of  the  patient  having  been  secured 
by  management  and,  if  needed,  by  sedatives,  and  uncon- 
sciousness induced  by  inhalation  anesthesia,  the  opera- 
tion proceeds,  each  division  of  nerve-bearing  tissue 
being  preceded  by  the  injection  of  a  local  anesthetic 
-novocain  in  1-400  solution.  The  infiltrated  parts 
are  subjected  immediately  to  a  firm  but  gentle  pressure 


MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

with  the  hand  in  order  that  no  nerve  in  the  field  of 
operation  may  be  left  free  to  carry  an  activating  im- 
pulse to  the  brain.  If  the  operation  be  abdominal, 
first  the  skin,  then  the  subcutaneous  tissue,  then  the 
fascia  and,  finally,  the  remaining  muscle  or  posterior 
sheath  and  the  peritoneum  are  in  turn  novocainized, 
subjected  to  momentary  pressure  to  spread  the  anes- 
thetic and  then  divided  within  the  blocked  zone.  If 
the  blocking  has  been  complete,  then,  upon  opening 
the  abdomen,  the  intestines  will  lie  within  the  abdom- 
inal cavity,  and  the  abdominal  muscles  will  be  com- 
pletely relaxed.  Under  these  conditions  the  entire 
abdomen  may  be  explored  without  awakening  the 
nociceptor  sentinels.  If  the  operative  procedure  is 
such  that  activation  is  inevitable,  ether  is  added  in 
advance. 

In  suitable  cases  in  which  no  infection  is  present,  an 
additional  guarantee  against  postoperative  discomfort 
may  be  given  by  an  injection  of  quinin  and  urea 
hydrochlorid,  in  a  \  to  \  per  cent  solution.  This 
anesthetic  is  injected  at  a  distance  from  the  line  of 
incision.  Its  effects  last  for  several  days  so  that  by 
its  use  the  patient  is  protected  from  noxious  impulses 
from  the  operative  field  until  the  healing  process  has 
well  begun. 

Results  of  Anociation 

The  result  of  a  systematic  employment  of  anociation 
in  all  cases  operated  by  me  in  Lakeside  Hospital 
has  been  to  decrease  the  mortality  rate  to  less  than 
one  third  the  mortality  rate  before  the  method  of 
anociation  was  employed.  Unless  all  facts  are  known, 


ANOCIATION  253 

however,  mere  mortality  statistics  may  be  of  little 
value  to  one  who  contemplates  the  fact  that  even  a 
mediocre  operator,  who  possesses  the  liberty  and  the 
judgment  to  operate  only  upon  those  cases  which  pre- 
sent the  required  amount  of  strength  to  endure  his 
technique  and  his  hospital  organization,  can  show  as  low 
a  mortality  rate  as  the  most  expert  operator  who  is  sup- 
ported by  the  best  trained  staff  but  dealing  with  graver 
risks.  A  better  clue  to  the  comparative  value  of 
methods  is  to  be  found  in  a  study  of  postoperative  mor- 
bidity records.  Here  anociation  has  assuredly  proved 
its  superiority.  In  comparison  with  the  past  records 
of  patients  operated  under  the  same  general  conditions 
of  hospital  organization  and  mechanical  technique,  but 
without  the  protection  of  anociation,  the  records  of  the 
anoci-protected  cases  show  a  striking  diminution  in  the 
long  train  of  distressing  conditions  which  are  the 
usual  sequelae  to  operations  under  ether  anesthesia. 
Shock,  gas  pain,  nausea  and  vomiting,  backache,  asep- 
tic wound  fever,  pneumonia,  nephritis,  painful  scar, 
neurasthenia  and  hyperthyroidism  are  all  diminished 
or  wholly  prevented  by  operation  under  anociation. 

In  the  diminution  of  each  one  of  these  common 
sequelce  to  surgical  operations,  there  is  to  be  found  a 
significant  corroboration  of  the  kinetic  theory. 

The  Kinetic  Theory  of  Peritonitis  and  Postoperative 
Gas  Pain 

The  occurrence  and  prevention  of  postoperative 
gas  pain  may  be  explained  on  a  biologic  basis  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner :  Prior  to  the  era  of  aseptic  surgery,  it 
may  be  believed  that  most  if  not  all  abdominal  wounds 


254     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE    MECHANISM 

became  infected.  Had  this  state  of  affairs  continued 
long  enough,  then,  by  the  law  of  natural  selection,  some 
protective  mechanism  against  infection  would  have 
been  evolved  within  the  abdomen.  The  peritoneum 
possesses  such  a  mechanism,  and  we  believe  that  the 
phenomena  of  gas  pain  and  of  peritonitis  are  parts  of 
a  self -defensive  reaction.  Since  infection  is  most 
readily  spread  and  increased  by  movement,  immobili- 
zation of  the  abdominal  muscles  in  the  infected  region 
is  a  prime  requirement  in  overcoming  any  abdominal 
infection.  Within  the  abdomen,  immobilization  is 
secured  (1)  by  the  inhibition  of  the  intestines ;  (2)  by 
the  distension  of  the  intestines;  (3)  by  the  rigid  and 
persistent  contraction  of  the  abdominal  muscles ;  and 
(4)  by  the  exudation  of  a  sticky,  gluelike  fluid.  The 
infected  point  is  thus  fixed  by  paralysis;  by  disten- 
sion ;  by  rigidity  of  the  abdominal  wall;  and  by  gluing. 

On  account  of  the  intestinal  inhibition,  digestion 
and  absorption  cease,  and  anorexia  and  vomiting  fol- 
low, as  self -protective  measures  against  the  dangers  of 
poisonous,  broken-down  food  products.  Pain  and  ten- 
derness play  a  part  by  forcing  the  maintenance  of  a 
boxlike  rigidity  of  the  abdomen. 

As  the  abdominal  walls  are  rigid,  respiratory  move- 
ments are  confined  to  the  thorax ;  and  since  the  lungs 
are  thus  but  partially  filled,  the  respiratory  rate  is  in- 
creased to  compensate  for  the  diminished  volume  of 
exchanged  gases.  The  increased  H-ion  concentration 
due  to  increased  energy  transformation  also  tends  to 
increase  the  respiratory  rate.  The  diminished  respira- 
tory excursion  and  consequent  partial  venous  stasis  in 
the  lungs  predispose  to  pleurisy  and  pneumonia. 


ANOCIATION  255 

The  loss  of  water  by  vomiting,  the  diminished  intake 
of  water  and  the  failure  of  water  absorption  cause  a 
rapid  shrinkage  of  the  soft  parts  which  is  especially 
noted  in  the  face,  while  the  increased  blood  supply  to 
the  intestines,  combined  with  the  diminished  intake  of 
water  causes  a  rapid  diminution  of  the  pulse  volume. 
The  loss  of  water  is  followed  also  by  a  diminished  vol- 
ume of  urine.  At  the  same  time  metabolism  is  in- 
creased, and  as  a  result  the  acid  by-products  and  the 
H-ion  concentration  of  the  blood  are  increased.  The 
increased  H-ion  concentration  of  the  blood  stimulates 
the  respiratory  center.  The  loss  of  water  and  the  in- 
creased H-ion  concentration  cause  thirst.  In  this  pic- 
ture of  the  gamut  of  the  phenomena  of  peritonitis  we 
see  that  all  are  logical  results  of  the  activity  of  a  local, 
self-defense  mechanism  against  infection.  Every  pen- 
etration of  the  peritoneum  initiates  this  protective 
mechanism  whether  there  is  infection  or  not — hence 
abdominal  operations  are  usually  followed  by  gas  pain. 

If  that  portion  of  the  brain  through  which  this 
adaptive  response  is  made  be  kept  in  ignorance  of  the 
incision  into  the  peritoneum  by  progressive  novocain 
blocking  during  the  operation  and  by  quinin  and  urea 
hydrochlorid  blocking  to  prevent  nerve  impulses  from 
reaching  the  brain  after  the  operation,  there  should  be 
—  and  there  is  —  diminished  or  no  gas  pain.  But  if, 
on  the  other  hand,  a  single  nerve  pathway  escape  the 
blocking  and  communicate  with  the  brain,  there  is  gas 
pain,  as  would  be  expected. 

The  same  principle  is  illustrated  in  the  effective 
treatment  of  peritonitis  by  large  physiologic  doses  of 
opium — the  Alonzo  Clark  treatment.  This  treatment, 


256     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

by  depressing  the  activity  of  the  brain,  keeps  within 
safe  bounds  the  defensive  activity  of  the  kinetic  system, 
which  if  uncontrolled  is  prone  to  exceed  the  limit  of 
safety.  Pain  and  muscular  rigidity  are  prevented. 
Metabolism  is  held  practically  at  a  standstill,  so  there 
is  little  need  of  food ;  peristalsis  is  inhibited,  therefore 
the  intestines  are  immobile ;  and  phagocytosis  has  an 
opportunity  to  overcome  the  infection.  This  treatment 
does  not  replace  but  supplements  surgical  treatment. 

Painful  Scar 

The  phenomenon  of  painful  scar,  which  in  origin  is 
akin  to  many  pathological  as  well  as  normal  conditions, 
may  be  explained  by  the  fundamental  principle  of  nerve 
action  that  any  strong  traumatic  or  psychic  stimulus 
produces  a  change  in  conductivity  somewhere  in  the 
cerebral  arc,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  lower  the  thresh- 
old of  that  arc.  Thus,  if  a  man  has  been  held  up  at 
the  point  of  a  pistol  by  a  highwayman  at  a  certain  street 
corner,  for  months  afterward  whenever  he  passes  that 
corner  that  circumstance  will  be  vividly  recalled,  and 
perhaps  the  whole  train  of  activity  phenomena  follow- 
ing upon  the  incident  may  be  recapitulated.  The  effect 
of  traumatic  stimuli  is  similar.  The  arc  receiving  strong 
traumatic  stimuli  suffers  a  lowered  threshold  and  from 
that  time  on  mere  trifles  become  adequate  stimuli. 
Familiar  examples  of  this  are  the  sensitiveness  of  limbs 
after  fractures,  and  the  painful  stumps  of  amputated 
limbs ;  the  apparent  location  of  the  pain  being  often  not 
in  the  remaining  stump,  but  in  the  part  amputated. 
The  lesion  of  a  painful  scar,  therefore,  is  not  at  the  site 
of  the  wound,  but  in  the  brain.  Now,  if  an  operation 


ANOCIATION  257 

be  so  performed  that  no  strong  traumatic  stimulus 
reaches  the  brain,  either  during  or  after  operation,  then 
the  threshold  to  the  cerebral  arc  from  the  wound  will 
not  be  lowered,  and  the  scar  will  yield  no  abnormal 
pain. 

Postoperative  or  Posttraumatic  Nervousness 

A  lowered  threshold,  resulting  from  some  overwhelm- 
ing stimulus  which  predisposes  the  kinetic  system  to 
an  uncontrollable  discharge  of  energy  in  response  to 
trifling  stimuli,  may  explain  many  abnormal  conditions, 
among  them  postoperative  neurasthenia,  which  is 
largely  prevented  by  anociation.  It  is  an  unhappy 
reflection  upon  surgery  that  the  general  public  has  come 
to  expect  that  a  state  of  nervous  derangement,  which 
may  last  from  several  months  to  a  year  or  more,  is  an 
inevitable  sequel  to  operations. 

When,  in  the  night,  one  is  suddenly  awakened  by 
the  consciousness  of  an  impending  peril,  the  brain 
threshold  is  immediately  lowered,  apparently  as  an 
adaptation  for  the  more  swift  and  accurate  perception 
of  the  danger.  Hearing,  sight  and  sense  of  touch  are  ab- 
normally acute.  A  similar  state  of  universally  lowered 
threshold  exists  after  the  receipt  of  a  crushing  physical 
injury.  In  this  tense  state,  minor  stimuli  produce 
major  effects,  and  the  individual,  in  common  parlance, 
is  " nervous."  In  an  operation  under  inhalation  anes- 
thesia alone,  the  unconscious  brain  has  been  tortured 
nearly  as  much  as  the  conscious  brain  would  be  under 
the  same  amount  of  injury  and  the  resultant  effect  upon 
the  brain  threshold  is  the  same.  It  is  not  strange  that 
from  such  an  ordeal  the  patient  emerges  " nervous" 


258     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

and  "  exhausted/'  to  endure  a  long  period  of  lessened 
efficiency,  of  weeping  at  trifles,  of  being  easily  fatigued, 
of  inability  to  " control"  the  steady  uncalled-for  out- 
flow of  energy  which  escapes  like  flood  water  over  a  low 
dam  —  a  state  that  will  continue  until  the  threshold 
is  raised  again  by  the  gradual  return  of  the  brain  to  its 
normal  threshold. 

Aseptic  Wound  Fever  and  Postoperative 
"  Hyperthyroidism  " 

The  production  and  the  prevention  of  aseptic  wound 
fever  are  based,  as  we  believe,  upon  the  physical  law 
that  any  form  of  energy  may  be  converted  into  heat, 
so  that  the  pain  stimuli  from  a  wound  may  cause  the 
production  of  both  heat  and  motion.  Any  stimulus 
which  drives  the  motor  mechanism  of  the  body  beyond 
the  point  of  normal  expression  will  cause  -fever.  Anger, 
athletic  contests,  fear,  physical  injuries,  all  produce  a 
rapid  oxidation,  increased  temperature  and  increased 
acid  by-products.  In  operations  under  general  anes- 
thesia, especially,  we  expect  to  see  some  postoperative 
rise  of  temperature  as  the  result  of  the  activation  of  the 
kinetic  system  by  the  physical  and  psychic  activation  of 
the  operation.  Since,  by  the  use  of  anociation,  we  are 
able  to  minimize  postoperative  fever,  we  conclude  that, 
barring  infection  and  the  absorption  of  hemoglobin, 
fever  after  operations  under  general  anesthesia  alone 
is  the  result  of  increased  transformation  of  energy,  due 
to  activation  of  the  kinetic  system  by  trauma  and 
psychic  stress.  In  like  manner  anociation  prevents 
postoperative  "  hyperthyroidism "  by  preventing  the 
activating  impulses  from  reaching  the  brain  during 


ANOCIATION  259 

operations  on  the  thyroid  in  cases  of  exophthalmic 
goiter,  thus  preventing  excessive  activation  with  the 
resultant  excessive  acid  by-products. 

Postoperative  Pneumonia 

Many  theories  have  been  advanced  to  account  for  the 
more  frequent  occurrence  of  pneumonia  after  operations 
in  the  upper  abdomen ,  than  after  operations  in  the 
lower  abdomen,  on  the  back  or  on  the  extremities. 
That  pneumonia  is  not  due  to  ether  alone  is  proved  by 
its  occurrence  after  operations  under  local  anesthesia. 
That  it  is  not  due  to  infection  alone  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  it  occurs  as  frequently  in  connection  with  un- 
infected  as  with  infected  wounds.  That  it  is  not  due 
to  emboli  or  thrombosis  alone  is  evident  from  the  fact 
that  superficial  wounds  are  rarely  followed  by  pneu- 
monia. 

The  clue  to  the  real  cause  is  found  in  a  comparison 
of  the  postoperative  behavior  of  patients  operated  upon 
under  anociation  with  those  operated  upon  without  that 
protection.  After  the  nocuous  operation  the  wound  is 
tender.  As  the  upper  abdominal  muscles  have  spe- 
cially important  respiratory  functions,  in  each  respiratory 
movement  these  powerful  muscles  pull  on  the  stitches 
which  hold  together  the  divided  wall.  The  exquisite 
pain  produced  by  this  respiratory  pull  causes  the  inhi- 
bition of  the  muscular  contractions  on  the  side  of  the 
incision,  or  on  both  sides  if  the  wound  be  median.  As 
a  result,  the  excursion  of  the  lower  chest  wall  is  dimin- 
ished, so  that  the  lower  lobes  of  the  lungs  cannot  be 
filled  completely.  That  a  lessened  exchange  of  air  in 
the  lower  lobes  predisposes  to  pneumonia  is  suggested 


260     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

by  the  frequent  occurrence  of  pneumonia  in  cases  of 
localized  pleurisy,  in  which  pain  causes  an  inhibition  of 
free  excursion  in  the  part  of  the  chest  which  is  in- 
volved. The  resultant  pneumonia  usually  occurs  in 
that  portion  of  the  lungs  whose  free  action  is  inhibited. 
After  gall  bladder  operations,  pneumonia  begins  usually 
not  in  the  left  but  in  the  right  lobe,  whereas  were 
the  pneumonia  embolic  in  its  origin,  the  lobes  would 
probably  fare  alike. 

The  diminution  in  the  number  of  cases  of  postopera- 
tive pneumonia  since  the  adoption  of  the  technique  of 
anociation  is  final  proof  of  this  theory  as  to  its  cause. 
Because  of  the  lack  of  local  tenderness  in  the  field  of 
operation  produced  by  the  technique  of  the  operation 
itself,  and  by  the  postoperative  nerve  blocking  with 
quinin  and  urea  hydrochlorid,  there  is  diminished  or 
no  inhibition  of  the  respiratory  excursions.  This  also, 
without  doubt,  explains  the  reduced  mortality  of  opera- 
tions for  umbilical  hernia  performed  with  the  transverse 
incision  (Mayo). 


CHAPTER  X 

CERTAIN  PHASES  OF  THE  RELATION  BETWEEN  THE 
KINETIC  SYSTEM  AND  GROWTH,  PROCREATION  AND 
CHEMICAL  PURITY 

IN  taking  possession  of  the  final  common  path  in  the 
brain,  stimuli  of  the  external  environment,  as  has  been 
stated,  observe  a  definite  order  of  precedence,  depending 
upon  the  phylogenetic  and  ontogenetic  meaning  of  each 
stimulus  to  the  particular  organism  in  question.  In 
general,  it  may  be  said  that  self-preservation  stimuli 
take  precedence  over  species-preservation  stimuli.  We 
postulate  that  the  same  order  of  precedence  may  be 
observed  in  responses  to  the  chemical  and  physical 
stimuli  of  the  internal  environment  of  the  body. 

The  stimuli  to  growth  and  reproduction,  the  stimuli 
of  pregnancy,  the  stimuli  to  maintenance  of  the  chemi- 
cal purity  of  the  body,  are  constantly  struggling  within 
the  body  for  the  available  supply  of  transformable 
energy ;  and  the  nature  of  the  stimulus  gaining  posses- 
sion of  the  final  common  path  determines  many  condi- 
tions of  health  and  disease  in  the  organism.  Some- 
times the  stimuli  of  the  external  environment  compete 
with  the  stimuli  of  the  internal  environment  —  as 
when  the  integration  of  the  body  in  response  to  the 
stimulus  of  fear  interferes  with  the  normal  action  of  the 
stimuli  in  response  to  which  nutrition  is  accomplished 
-  and  the  sum  total  of  health  or  disease  is  the  net 

261 


£62     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

result  of  the  balance  struck  between  these  competing 
stimuli  of  the  two  environments. 

The  kinetic  system,  which  is  strongly  driven  by  the 
self -preservative  stimuli  of  starvation,  of  acute  or 
chronic  infection,  of  physical  injury  or  of  overwork ;  or 
which  is  crippled  by  the  deficient  functional  activity 
of  the  brain,  thyroid,  liver  or  adrenals,  will  have  a 
lessened  power  to  respond  to  the  less  urgent  and  more 
easily  deferred  stimuli  to  growth  and  reproduction. 
It  is  known  that  children  grow  slowly  who  suffer  from 
acute  and  chronic  infections,  such  as  oral  sepsis,  ton- 
sillitis, adenoids,  middle  ear  infection,  caries  of  the 
bone  and  indigestion;  from  impure,  improper  or 
insufficient  food ;  from  overcrowding,  poor  ventilation, 
overwork,  cruelty  and  pain ;  from  deficient  functional 
activity  of  the  thyroid,  hypophysis,  liver,  brain  or  heart. 
It  is  also  known  that  after  the  removal  of  these  bur- 
dens or  deficiencies,  and  the  reestablishment  of  normal 
internal  and  external  environments,  growth  is  rapid. 
This  is  evidenced  by  the  result  of  feeding  thyroid  ex- 
tract to  myxcedematous  children ;  by  the  rapid  growth 
after  the  cure  of  chronic  appendicitis,  hip  joint  disease, 
tonsillitis,  adenoids  and  chronic  mastoiditis ;  after  the 
substitution  of  happiness  and  content  for  homesick- 
ness ;  and  of  good  hygiene  for  bad  hygiene.  Interfer- 
ence with  growth  is  in  direct  proportion  to  the  reduction 
in  efficiency  of  the  kinetic  system.  It  does  not  matter 
whether  this  reduction  is  the  result  of  a  decreased  effi- 
ciency of  some  one  link  in  the  system,  or  of  an  increased 
call  upon  the  stored  energy  for  response  to  contact 
ceptor,  distance  ceptor  or  chemical  stimuli,  so  that  less 
energy  is  left  for  other  demands. 


GROWTH   AND   CHEMICAL   PURITY     263 

An  impairment  of  the  efficiency  of  the  kinetic 
system  by  an  impairment  of  the  function  of  one  organ 
in  the  system  is  equivalent  to  an  impairment  in  effi- 
ciency through  excessive  driving  of  this  system  —  by 
worry,  fear,  pain,  infection,  overwork  or  by  insuffi- 
cient food.  The  increased  rate  of  growth  in  a  myxos- 
dematous  patient  resulting  from  thyroid  feeding  is 
equal  to  that  effected  by  removing  chronically  infected 
tonsils  and  adenoids,  by  providing  pure  milk  and  good 
hygiene  for  the  underfed  and  neglected  child  or  by 
stopping  overwork,  pain  and  worry. 

Conversion  of  Energy  for  Reproduction 

The  causes  which  prevent  the  transformation  of  en- 
ergy by  the  kinetic  system  for  growth  also  prevent  the 
transformation  of  energy  for  reproduction.  The  same 
internal  and  external  stimuli  which  make  an  excessive 
demand  upon  the  kinetic  system  for  self-preservative 
reactions  (diminishing  or  inhibiting  the  response  to 
growth  stimuli),  when  present  in  the  growing  or  adult 
organism,  may  prevent  or  retard  the  development  of 
secondary  sexual  characteristics,  sexual  desire,  concep- 
tion and  pregnancy. 

It  is  known  that  when  the  thyroid  or  adrenals  are 
deficient,  the  development  of  secondary  sexual  charac- 
teristics is  retarded.  The  development  of  secondary 
sexual  characteristics  may  be  arrested  by  excision  of  the 
sex  glands,  and  may  be  delayed  by  acute  or  chronic 
infection,  by  emotional  strain,  by  auto-intoxication,  by 
pyorrhea  alveolaris  and  by  defective  hygiene. 

It  is  probable  that  secondary  sexual  characteristics 
and  normal  sexual  function  are  in  part  the  result  of 


264     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

the  action  of  the  internal  secretions  of  the  ovaries  or 
testicles  upon  the  kinetic  system,  by  which  is  produced 
the  kinetic  activity  required  to  build  up  the  organs 
and  to  create  the  sex  function.  Therefore,  wherever 
there  is  a  defect  in  a  link  of  the  kinetic  system  or 
absence  of  efficiency  in  the  ovaries  or  testicles,  there 
will  be  a  correspondingly  diminished  expression  of  sex 
phenomena. 

Such  a  conception  of  the  development  of  the  function 
of  reproduction  might  explain  why  wild  animals,  as  a 
rule,  do  not  procreate  in  captivity.  Food  may  be 
abundant,  shelter  secure,  the  kinetic  system  active, 
but  the  fear  integration  excludes  the  procreation  stim- 
ulus and  prevents  energy  from  being  diverted  into 
normal  procreative  channels.  Animals  have  been  so 
evolved  that  their  tendency  to  breed  is  diminished  in 
the  midst  of  hazardous  or  hostile  environments.  In 
the  past,  such  environments  would  have  led  to  the 
destruction  of  mother  and  offspring ;  death  would  have 
followed  procreation  in  times  of  drouth  and  famine  and 
in  a  period  of  great  cold  with  scarcity  of  food.  This 
phylogenetic  fact  may  explain  why  at  any  time,  when 
the  general  nutrition  is  low,  the  poverty  of  the  kinetic 
system  is  such  that  energy  cannot  be  spared  for  pro- 
creation. 

Maintenance  of  the  Standard  of  Chemical  Purity 
in  the  Body 

In  addition  to  transforming  energy  for  the  adaptive 
reactions  of  running,  fighting,  work,  emotion,  eliminat- 
ing foreign  proteins,  combating  infection  and  further- 
ing growth  and  procreation,  it  may  be  suggested  that 


GROWTH   AND   CHEMICAL   PURITY    265 

the  kinetic  system  transforms  energy  for  the  purpose  of 
maintaining  the  body  at  an  optimum  chemical  standard 
and  at  an  optimum  bulk.  Our  evidence  for  this  state- 
ment rests  upon  the  fact  that  most  of  the  metabolic 
activities  which  result  in  the  maintenance  of  the 
chemical  purity  of  the  body  are  attended  by  the  same 
phenomena,  the  same  functional  and  histological 
changes  in  the  brain,  adrenals  and  liver  that  are 
produced  by  other  activations  of  the  kinetic 
system. 

Were  not  some  mechanism  in  the  body  adapted  to 
regulate  the  disposition  of  food  intake,  to  limit  the 
storage  of  the  digestion  products  of  proteins,  carbohy- 
drates and  fats,  the  normal  organism  in  the  midst  of 
an  abundant  food  supply  would,  like  sand  dunes,  con- 
tinually increase  in  bulk.  That  there  is  such  a  regu- 
lating mechanism,  and  that  this  mechanism  is  the 
kinetic  system,  is  suggested  by  the  facts  about  to  be 
presented,  which  show  that  intravenous  injections  of 
excessive  doses  of  amino  acids,  of  glucose,  of  alcohol 
or  of  fatty  acids  result  in :  (1)  an  increased  meta- 
bolic activity,  i.e.,  increase  in  output  of  calories; 
(2)  an  increased  activity  of  the  organs  of  the  kinetic 
system,  resulting  in  functional  and  histologic  changes 
identical  with  those  produced  by  running,  fighting, 
emotion  or  infection  (Figs.  62,  63,  64) ;  and  (3)  a  di- 
minished power  of  the  kinetic  system  to  respond  to 
other  adequate  stimuli. 

(1)  Metabolism:  Rubner,  Benedict,  Lusk,  Du  Bois 
and  others  have  shown,  by  calorimetric  methods,  that 
protein  injection  is  followed  by  an  increased  pro- 
duction of  calories.  This  is  the  so-called  mass  action 


266    MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

of  proteins.  Lusk  has  shown  that  the  mass  action  of  a 
protein  injection  is  greater  than  could  be  accounted 
for  by  the  calories  of  the  protein  itself.  This  is  expli- 
cable on  the  hypothesis  that  protein,  in  excess  of  the 
cellular  needs,  is  an  adequate  stimulus  for  the  kinetic 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  cerebellum  Section  of  cerebellum  of  cat  after 

of  cat.  injections  of  leucin. 

FIG.  62.  —  EFFECT  OF  LEUCIN  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A  CAT. 

Note  the  loss  of  chromatic  material  in  all  and  the  evidences  of  disintegra- 
tion in  many  of  the  cells  of  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

system.  (Figs.  65,  66,  67.)  We  postulate  that  it  is  an 
adequate  stimulus  because  the  kinetic  system  has  been 
evolved  to  defend  the  body  against  the  accumulation 


GROWTH   AND   CHEMICAL   PURITY    267 

of  useless  materials  of  all  kinds.  Just  as  the  kinetic 
system  utilizes  carbohydrates,  in  responding  to  bacterial 
foreign  proteins,  or  in  muscular  work,  so  additional 
carbohydrate  energy  is  used  in  the  work  of  reducing 
and  eliminating  excessive  food  proteins ;  and  as  a  con- 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  adrenal  of  cat.  Section  of  adrenal  of  cat  after 

injections  of  leucin. 
FIG.  63.  —  EFFECT  OF  LEUCIN  ON  THE  ADRENALS  OF  A  CAT. 

Note  the  vacuolated  space  and  the  disappearance  of  the  nuclei  of  the  cells 
of  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

sequence,  the  calories  produced  by  protein  digestion  are 
greater  than  the  calories  derived  from  the  protein  itself. 

(2)  Kinetic  Activation:  If  protein,  in  excess  of  the 
body's  needs,  acts  as  an  adequate  stimulus  to  the 
kinetic  system,  the  resultant  activation  would  produce 


268     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

histologic  changes  in  the  brain,  adrenals  and  liver; 
and  functional  changes  in  the  thyroid  and  adrenals 
identical  to  the  changes  produced  by  muscular  work, 
emotion,  infection,  etc. 


Section  of  normal  liver  of  cat.        Section  of  liver  of  cat  after  injections 

of  leucin. 

FIG.  64.  —  EFFECT  OF  LEUCIN  ON  THE  LIVER  'OF  A  CAT. 

Note  the  general  disappearance  of  cytoplasm  and  of  nuclei  in  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

In   order  to  test   these  points  experimentally,  we 
gave  to  animals  intravenous  injections  of  amino  acids 


GROWTH  AND   CHEMICAL  PURITY    269 

(leucin,  creatin)  and  of  alcohol,  representing  the  results 
of  protein  and  carbohydrate  digestion.  These  agents 
caused  an  increased  output  of  adrenin  and  histologic 
changes  in  the  brain,  adrenals  and  liver,  identical 
with  those  produced  by  other  kinetic  activations,  such 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  cerebellum  Section  of  cerebellum  of  dog  after 

of  dog.  injection  of  peptone. 

FIG.  65.  —  EFFECT  OF  PEPTONE  (PROTEIN)  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A  DOG. 
Note  the  presence  of  disorganized  and  fatigued  cells  in  B  in  contrast  to 
the  uniform  appearance  of  cells  in  A. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

as  exertion,  emotion,  infection ;  clinically  it  is  known 
that  an  excessive  protein  diet  aggravates  cases  of  Graves' 
disease,  for  which  a  restricted  protein  diet  is  routinely 
prescribed. 

(3)    Diminished    Kinetic    Efficiency:     If   it    is    the 


270     MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

function  of  the  kinetic  system  to  regulate  the  amount 
of  food  products  stored  in  the  body,  then,  when 
an  excessive  amount  of  food  is  ingested,  the  kinetic 


A. 

Section  of  normal  adrenal  of  Section  of  adrenal  of  dog  after 

dog.  injection  of  peptone. 

FIG.  66.  —  EFFECT  OF  PEPTONE  (PROTEIN)  ON  THE  ADRENALS  OF  A  DOG. 

Note  the  vacuolated  spaces,  disappearance  of  cytoplasm  and  the  irregu- 
larly placed  nuclei  of  the  cells  of  B,  as  compared  with  A. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

system,  occupied  with  breaking  down  and  eliminat- 
ing this  excess,  will  be  rendered  unable  to  respond 
normally  to  other  stimuli,  such  as  stimuli  to  mental 
and  muscular  work,  emotion,  etc.  The  general  inef- 


GROWTH   AND   CHEMICAL   PURITY 

ficiency  of  the  overfed  is  patent  to  every  one.  It  is 
an  interesting  fact  also,  as  shown  by  Du  Bois,  that 
protein  injection  does  not  produce  increased  calories 


A.  v    B. 

Section  of  normal  liver  of  dog.        Section  of  liver  of  dog  after  injection 

of  peptone. 

FIG.  67.  —  EFFECT  OF  PEPTONE  (PROTEIN)  ON  THE  LIVER  OF  A  DOG. 

Note  the  disappearance  of  cytoplasm,  the  disappearance  of  some  nuclei 
and  the  irregular  shapes  of  others  in  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

in  the  presence  of  fever,  as  would  be  expected.  The 
reverse  would  be  as  improbable  as  it  would  be  for 
an  engine  to  blow  off  steam  while  it  is  struggling  with 
a  heavy  overload. 


MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Since  excessive  protein  diet  causes  the  same  kinetic 
activation  as  overwork,  worry  or  infection,  we  can 
understand  why  it  can  also  precipitate  the  same  kinetic 
diseases;  why,  also,  though  it  may  not  be  the  real 
cause  of  any  given  disease,  it  nevertheless  may  be  an 
injurious  aggravating  factor;  and  why  limiting  the 
protein  diet  of  one  suffering  from  a  disease  of  the 
kinetic  system  may  be  as  beneficial  as  rest,  freedom 
from  worry  or  getting  rid  of  an  infection.  We  can 
understand  how  cardiovascular  and  cardiorenal  disease 
may  be  produced  by  excessive  food ;  and  how  they 
may  be  aggravated  by  excessive  muscular  work,  and 
improved  by  muscular  repose ;  how  nephritis  may  be 
augmented  by  excessive  protein  diet  or  improved  by  a 
rigidly  limited  diet. 

By  this  conception  we  link  " metabolism"  with  other 
adaptive  reactions  which  involve  the  kinetic  system 
and  are  governed  by  the  internal  and  external  environ- 
ment. In  other  words,  metabolism  is  not  the  cause 
but  the  result  of  internal  or  external  environmental 
stimulation  of  the  kinetic  system.  When  the  kinetic 
system  is  activated,  metabolism  results ;  when  the 
kinetic  system  is  quiescent,  metabolism  is  quiescent ; 
when  a  link  of  the  kinetic  system  is  impaired, 
metabolism  is  impeded.  When  one  link  of  the  kinetic 
system  is  completely  broken,  metabolism  —  the  trans- 
formation of  energy  —  ceases.  Metabolism  depends 
upon  the  unity  and  integrity  of  the  kinetic  system 
as  much  as  the  complete  action  of  an  automobile  de- 
pends upon  the  integrity  of  the  essential  parts  of  its 
motor.  In  fact  the  kinetic  system  is  the  motor  of  the 
body,  the  driving  power  —  and  no  less  the  driven 


GROWTH   AND   CHEMICAL   PURITY     273 

power  —  as  a    result  of  whose    action  metabolism   is 
produced. 

Pregnancy  and  Eclampsia 

Although,  through  the  action  of  the  kinetic  system, 
the  species  preserves  a  relative  purity  of  its  chemical 
composition,  observation  shows  that  this  standard  is 
not  always  identical.  The  development  of  serologic 
knowledge  has  disclosed  certain  variations  among 
normal  individuals.  Hektoen  showed  that  the  serum  of 
particular  groups  of  individuals  contained  isoglutinins 
for  certain  other  groups,  and  no  isoglutinins  for  still 
other  groups.  The  source  of  this  difference  has  not 
yet  been  determined.  Not  only  is  the  lack  of  absolute 
chemical  homogeneity  among  individuals  shown  by 
serologic  tests,  but  it  is  also  shown  by  the  more  rigid 
test  of  the  transference  of  living  parts  of  one  animal 
or  man  to  another.  These  observations  have  been 
made  on  a  large  scale  in  the  direct  transfusion  of  blood, 
in  skin  grafting  and  in  the  transplantation  of  organs. 

In  blood  transfusion  hemolysis  of  the  transferred 
blood  might  be  easily  understood  when  the  recipient 
is  abnormal,  as,  for  instance,  where  there  is  pernicious 
anemia ;  but  there  is  also  a  slight  hemolysis  of  trans- 
ferred blood  in  some  apparently  normal  individuals. 
This  would  indicate  a  difference  in  the  chemical  nature 
of  normal  individuals.  As  to  skin  grafting,  I  have 
observed  that,  in  cancer,  skin  grafts  from  the  patient 
himself  are  far  more  successful  than  skin  grafts  from 
another  individual.  Even  in  the  absence  of  disease, 
skin  grafts  from  another  part  of  the  same  individual 
grow  better  than  grafts  from  another  individual.  Carrel 


274     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

has  shown  conclusively  that,  in  some  instances,  organs 
transplanted  from  the  body  of  one  animal  to  the  body 
of  another  of  the  same  species  may  undergo  histologic 
changes.  Most  transplanted  kidneys  are  broken  down 
in  time.  Lexor's  brilliant  surgical  feat  of  transplanting 
entire  knee  joints  from  one  human  being  to  another 
showed  later  that  the  transplant  gradually  disappeared 
and  was  replaced  by  a  new  structure  identical  in  form 
and  bulk  with  the  transplant,  but  actually  the  result 
of  cell  multiplication  by  the  host  organism.  Thus  we 
have  experimental  and  clinical  evidence  that  normal 
individuals  of  the  same  species  may  possess  slight 
chemical  differences. 

The  beginning  of  the  process  of  procreation  is  the 
transplantation  of  a  unit  of  tissue  from  one  individual 
of  a  species  to  another  individual  of  the  same  species. 
Species  are  probably  only  exaggerated  varieties;  and 
varieties  are  exaggerations  of  individual  differences. 
The  reason  why  different  species  do  not  cross  is  doubt- 
less because  the  chemical  reaction  of  the  female  kills 
the  spermatozoon,  which  is  a  foreign  protein.  The 
same  reason  doubtless  explains  why  varieties  cross  less 
well  than  individuals  of  the  same  species.  And  one 
may  assume  that  two  normal  individuals  who  produce 
no  offspring,  but  who,  when  they  separate  and  remate, 
are  fertile,  are  infertile  in  the  first  instance  because  of 
chemical  incompatability. 

The  spermatozoon  presumably  brings  with  it  the 
chemical  characteristic  of  the  male.  Hence,  in  the 
growth  and  development  of  the  placenta  and  fetus 
there  should  be  a  slight  chemical  difference  between 
the  mother  and  the  fetus,  which  would  increase  dur- 


GROWTH   AND   CHEMICAL  PURITY    275 

ing  the  period  of  fetal  growth.  The  female  therefore 
would  have  an  increasing  chemical  difference  to  over- 
come. We  have  seen  that  the  standard  of  chemical 
purity  of  the  body  is  maintained  through  the  action  of 
the  kinetic  system.  When  there  is  a  chemical  difference 
between  the  growing  fetus  and  placenta,  therefore,  the 
kinetic  system  of  the  mother  would  be  activated  exactly 
as  when  any  other  foreign  protein  is  present  in  her 
bod)r.  An  added  increase  in  the  work  of  the  kinetic 
system  would  be  imposed.  Also,  the  increase  in  metab- 
olism required  for  the  growth  and  activity  of  the 
fetus  would  give  an  increased  production  of  acid  by- 
products as  a  result  of  the  increased  energy  transfor- 
mation. That  the  needs  of  the  fetus  are  considerable 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  during  pregnancy  the  total  food 
intake  of  the  mother  is  greatly  increased.  As  a  result 
of  this  increased  intake  of  food,  the  elaboration  of 
material  for  the  growth  of  the  fetus,  and  the  added 
burden  of  overcoming  the  difference  in  chemical 
standards,  the  kinetic  system  of  the  pregnant  mother 
should  and  does  exhibit  greatly  increased  activity,  as 
is  shown  by  the  following  evidence : 

Brain:  In  the  pregnant  state  there  is  progressive 
loss  of  muscular  power,  mental  efficiency  and  resistance 
to  infection.  Memory,  reason  and  endurance  suffer 
just  as  they  do  in  infection  or  in  auto-intoxication. 
More  direct  evidence  of  the  effect  of  pregnancy  on 
the  brain  was  found  by  examining  the  brain-cells  of 
pregnant  rabbits  and  cats.  In  our  histologic  studies  of 
normal  pregnancy  we  found  evidence  of  brain  over- 
work and  brain  deterioration.  The  percentage  of  hypo- 
chromatic  brain-cells  was  above  normal.  In  addition 


276     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE    MECHANISM 

we  found  that  the  intravenous  injection  into  the  mother 
(rabbit)  of  extract  of  her  own  placenta  produced  typi- 
cal work  changes  in  the  organs  of  the  kinetic  system. 
(Fig.  68.)  Thus,  we  have  direct  physical  evidence  to 


A. 

Section  of  normal  cerebellum 
of  cat. 


B. 

Section  of  cerebellum  of  pregnant 
cat. 


FIG.  68.  —  EFFECT  OF  PREGNANCY  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A  CAT. 
The  effect  of  the  long  activation  of  pregnancy  is  well  illustrated  by  the 
generally  disorganized  appearance  of  the  Purkinje  cells  in  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

confirm  and  support  the  experiences  of  everyday  life. 
The  reason  why  there  are  changes  in  the  brain-cells 
and  why  there  is  evidence  of  fatigue  is  because  the 


GROWTH  AND   CHEMICAL  PURITY    277 

brain  has  been  driven  to  overwork  by  the  requirements 
of  pregnancy. 

Adrenals:  It  is  known  that  the  adrenals  enlarge 
in  animals  in  advance  of  their  mating  season  and  that 
the  enlargement  persists  during  pregnancy.  Such 


FIG.  69.  —  TRACING  SHOWING  EFFECT  OF  PREGNANCY  ON  THE  ADRENAL 
OUTPUT  OF  A  CAT.     (Cannon  Test.) 

That  the  adrenal  glands  are  activated  during  pregnancy  is  demonstrated 
by  the  sharp  inhibition  of  the  contractions  of  intestinal  muscle  when  the 
blood  of  a  pregnant  cat  is  substituted  for  normal  blood. 

seasonal  enlargement  and  its  persistence  during  preg- 
nancy indicate  an  adaptation  to  the  work  of  pregnancy 
—  a  preparation  on  the  part  of  the  adrenals  for  a  useful 
participation  in  pregnancy.  In  addition  to  this  ana- 
tomical evidence,  we  found  an  increase  of  adrenin  in 
the  blood  of  a  pregnant  rabbit.  (Fig.  69.)  Further- 


278     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

more,  we  found  that  intravenous  injection  of  placental 
extract  caused  an  increased  output  of  adrenin  in  the 
mother  rabbit.  In  addition,  we  have  shown  in  our 
laboratory  that  histologic  changes  in  the  adrenals  are 
produced  during  normal  pregnancy  in  cats  and  rabbits. 
This  evidence  would  seem  to  indicate  that  during  preg- 
nancy the  adrenal  link  in  the  kinetic  system  performs 
more  than  its  normal  amount  of  work. 

Thyroid:  The  thyroid  enlarges  during  the  mating 
season.  It  enlarges  during  courting  and  mating ;  in 
most  women,  the  thyroid  undergoes  some  enlargement 
during  pregnancy.  This  enlargement  may  disappear 
at  the  termination  of  pregnancy,  and  the  gland  return 
to  its  normal  condition.  But  in  many  instances  a  part 
of  the  enlargement  persists,  and  is  increased  with  each 
succeeding  pregnancy,  resulting  finally  in  a  large  goiter. 

That  this  enlargement  is  a  work  phenomenon  is 
evidenced  by  the  facts  that  in  pregnancy  the  thyroid 
not  only  is  enlarged  but  becomes  more  vascular  and  that 
two  goiters  excised  during  pregnancy  from  patients  hav- 
ing no  symptoms  of  Graves'  disease  and  no  infection, 
showed  typical  glandular  hyperplasia.  No  other  cases 
of  such  typical  glandular  hyperplasia  have  been  found, 
excepting  in  patients  whose  kinetic  systems  were  known 
to  be  activated,  as,  for  instance,  in  Graves'  disease, 
chronic  pyogenic  infection  or  tuberculosis.  There  is 
additional  evidence,  moreover,  that  the  thyroid  is 
hyperactivated  in  pregnancy.  The  pregnant  woman 
has  the  symptoms  of  mild  Graves'  disease,  excessive 
thyroid  feeding  or  excessive  administration  of  iodin, 
namely :  excitability,  tremors,  exhaustion,  sleepless- 
ness, increased  metabolism,  increased  heart  beat, 


GROWTH  AND  CHEMICAL  PURITY 

increased  respiration,  sweating.  She  is  easily  fatigued. 
Finally,  negative  proof  is  found  in  the  fact  that  if  iodin 
or  thyroid  extract  in  small  doses  be  given  during  preg- 
nancy, the  thyroid  will  enlarge  little  if  at  all.  The  func- 
tion of  the  thyroid  is  to  metabolize  iodin,  that  is,  to 
make  iodin  available  for  use  in  the  body  economy. 
Hence,  when  there  is  hyperplasia  of  the  thyroid,  we 
assume  that  the  gland  is  responding  to  an  increased  call 
for  iodin.  This  evidence  shows  that  the  thyroid,  like 
the  brain  and  adrenals,  is  activated  during  pregnancy. 

Muscles:  Clinical  evidence  of  the  participation  of 
the  muscles  in  the  activation  of  pregnancy  is  found  in 
a  distinct  loss  of  muscular  power,  which  may  be  due 
to  the  increased  activity  of  the  muscles  in  maintaining 
the  standard  of  chemical  purity  through  heat  produc- 
tion. The  muscles  participate  largely  in  heat  produc- 
tion, and  during  pregnancy  the  body  temperature  is 
slightly  above  normal  and  further  increase  of  tempera- 
ture is  made  with  abnormal  facility. 

Liver:  That  the  work  of  the  liver  is  increased  in 
pregnancy  is  shown  by  urinary  findings.  If  toxemia 
be  present,  the  decrease  in  the  urea  and  the  increase 
of  ammonia  show  that  the  liver  is  no  longer  able  to 
perform  the  entire  task  of  reducing  the  end  products 
of  protein  metabolism.  In  the  toxemia  of  pregnancy  the 
appearance  of  a  high  blood-pressure,  as  in  cardiorenal 
disease,  and  the  increased  H-ion  concentration  of  the 
blood  in  the  stages  nearing  eclampsia  (Michaelis)  offer 
clinical  evidence  that  excessive  work  is  performed  by 
ihe  liver  in  pregnancy.  Further  evidence  of  this  fact  is 
seen  in  the  histologic  studies  of  Ewing,  which  show  that 
massive  degeneration  of  the  liver  takes  place  in  the 


280     MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

toxemia  of  pregnancy,  and  in  our  own  laboratory 
findings  of  histologic  changes  in  the  livers  of  cats  and 
rabbits  in  normal  pregnancy.  Moreover,  Lusk  and 
his  co-workers  have  demonstrated  by  exact  calori- 
metric  methods  that  there  is  an  increased  energy 
transformation  (metabolism)  during  pregnancy. 

According  to  this  reasoning,  eclampsia  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  end  result  of  a  failure  of  the  mechanism 
whose  special  function  is  the  neutralization  of  the  acid 
by-products  resulting  from  the  increased  energy  trans- 
formation of  pregnancy.  Ultimately,  the  liver  gives 
way  under  the  strain  and  becomes  so  incapacitated 
that  the  acid  by-products  of  metabolism  are  not  com- 
pletely neutralized  and  in  consequence  there  occur 
acidosis,  headache,  drowsiness,  stupor  and  convulsions. 
The  phenomena  of  puerperal  eclampsia  have  many 
points  in  common  with  those  attending  the  breakdown 
of  the  acid-neutralizing  mechanism  in  Bright's  disease, 
in  diabetes  and  in  cirrhosis  of  the  liver.  The  patho- 
logic phenomena  of  pregnancy  may  thus  be  explained  as 
the  result  of  excessive  activation  of  the  kinetic  system. 
(Fig.  70.)  The  kinetic  system  takes  much  of  the  burden 
of  producing  offspring,  just  as  it  takes  the  burden  of 
securing  food,  of  combating  enemies,  of  avoiding 
danger,  of  expressing  the  emotions,  of  overcoming  in- 
fections and  of  maintaining  the  chemical  standard  of 
the  body.  In  the  amount  of  excessive  energy  trans- 
formation it  entails,  pregnancy  may  thus  be  compared 
to  infection,  emotion,  etc. 

As  a  corollary,  we  may  understand  why  pregnancy 
does  not  occur  if  there  be  deficiency  of  the  two  great 
activators  of  the  kinetic  system  —  the  thyroid  and  the 


GROWTH  AND   CHEMICAL  PURITY    281 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  human  cerebellum.     Section  of  human  cerebellum  after 
(After  accidental  death.)  death  from  eclampsia. 

FIG.  70.  —  EFFECT  OF  ECLAMPSIA  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A  HUMAN 

BEING. 

Note  the  general  disintegration  and  loss  of  chromatic  material  in  the  cells 
indicated  by  arrows,  as  compared  with  the  dee  ply  stained,  intact  cells  of  A. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

adrenals;  and  conversely  why  pregnancy  in  anemic, 
chlorotic,  adynamic  women  sometimes  transforms  them 
and  gives  them  added  weight  and  added  energy. 


282     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Though  this  explanation  is  wholly  theoretical,  it  is 
conceivable  that  the  vomiting  of  pregnancy  may  be 
due  to  the  same  cause  as  vomiting  in  acute  infections 
or  during  the  absorption  of  foreign  proteins.  When  the 
body  needs  to  split  up  and  eliminate  a  foreign  protein, 
the  kinetic  system  will  more  readily  accomplish  this 
work  if  no  more  added  food  be  taken,  thus  avoiding 
the  additional  work  of  breaking  down  and  eliminating 
the  amino  acids  derived  from  normal  food.  Thus,  the 
foreign  proteins  of  the  chemical  invasion  incident  to 
procreation  (the  fetus  and  placenta)  may  exert  the 
same  influence  as  that  exerted  by  the  chemical  in- 
vasion in  the  form  of  bacteria.  If  the  foreign  pro- 
teins in  bacteria  can  cause  active  vomiting,  why  may 
not  the  growing  massive  " foreign  proteins"  of  preg- 
nancy? We  have  some  evidence  to  support  such  a 
view  in  the  fact  that  the  moment  the  uterus  is  emptied, 
the  vomiting  ceases ;  or  if  the  fetus  dies,  the  vomiting 
ceases.  It  has  been  offered  as  an  explanation  that  the 
vomiting  is  reflex  and  is  due  to  a  false  position  of  the 
uterus  or  to  the  mechanical  expansion  of  the  uterus 
by  the  fetus.  Against  this,  it  may  be  pointed  out 
that  mechanical  pressure,  false  position,  tension  or 
surgical  dilatation  of  the  normal  uterus  cause  no  nausea ; 
and  also  that,  as  already  stated,  whatever  the  false 
position  of  the  uterus,  death  or  expulsion  of  the  fetus 
at  once  ends  vomiting. 

Since  man  is  a  transformer  of  energy,  his  unborn 
offspring  are  also  transformers  of  energy.  If  after  his 
birth  man's  further  growth  and  maturity  can  occur 
only  through  the  activity  of  his  kinetic  system,  we 
have  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  growth  in  the  uterus 


GROWTH  AND   CHEMICAL  PURITY    283 

is  made  possible  only  through  the  work  of  the  kinetic 
system  of  the  mother,  aided,  as  the  fetus  develops,  by 
the  kinetic  system  of  the  child.  This  much  is  certain, 
that  the  growth  of  the  fetus  in  the  uterus  is  at  a  more 
rapid  rate  than  its  growth  after  birth. 

A  prematurely  born  infant,  —  one  delivered  at  six 
months,  —  which  is  kept  at  as  even  a  temperature  in 
an  incubator  as  in  the  uterus,  does  not  show  a  rate  of 
growth  equal  to  that  of  the  fetus  within  the  uterus. 
The  infant  is  now  depending  upon  its  own  kinetic 
system  alone.  That  the  kinetic  systems  of  mother 
and  offspring  work  together  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
if  the  mother  has  a  deficient  thyroid  gland,  the  new- 
born babe  may  have  a  goiter,  showing  that  the  thyroid 
of  the  fetus  was  called  upon  to  supply  the  lack  of 
thyroid  secretion,  although  whether  this  call  was  made 
by  the  organism  of  the  mother  or  of  the  fetus,  or  of 
both,  is  not  known.  A  possible  evidence  of  the  exces- 
sive demand  upon  or  of  the  deficiency  of  the  adrenal 
secretion  is  seen  in  the  characteristic  brownish  discol- 
oration of  the  skin  of  pregnant  women.  These  discol- 
orations  are  analogous  to  those  of  Addison's  disease 
and  appear  with  pregnancy  and  disappear  after  de- 
livery. 

At  term,  the  phenomena  of  labor  present  interest- 
ing examples  of  adaptive  reactions.  The  preliminary 
pain  compels  attention  —  rest.  The  entire  process, 
from  the  warning  pain  to  the  muscular  contractions  and 
muscular  relaxations  of  delivery,  is  all  an  adaptation 
to  facilitate  the  birth.  Birth  opens  an  enormous 
bleeding  area.  Vast  blood  vessels  are  rent  asunder. 
Large  raw  areas  of  uterine  tissue  are  exposed  to  infec- 


284     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

tion.  Yet,  in  the  school  of  natural  selection  there  have 
been  evolved  mechanisms  of  protection  against  all 
these  menaces  —  mechanisms  for  the  arrest  of  hem- 
orrhage through  uterine  contractions  and  through 
facilitated  clotting,  and  mechanisms  in  the  tissues  of 
the  genital  tract  and  genital  organs  for  protection 
against  infection.  In  its  excellent  endowment  with 
mechanisms  of  protection  against  the  hazards  incident 
to  its  function  the  genital  tract  is  analogous  to  the  gall 
bladder  and  the  urinary  bladder  which  are  protected 
against  communication  with  infected  territories. 

Thus,  in  the  fundamental  processes  of  courtship, 
conception,  pregnancy,  birth  and  the  rearing  of  the 
young  do  we  find  a  series  of  wonderful  adaptations  by 
means  of  which  the  species  effects  survival. 


CHAPTER  XI 

A    MECHANISTIC    INTERPRETATION    OF    THE    ACTION    OF 
CERTAIN    DRUGS 

No  more  striking  evidence  that  the  organism  is  a 
physico-chemical  mechanism  governed  by  the  laws  of 
physics  and  of  chemistry  can  be  adduced  than  the 
reaction  of  the  organism  to  certain  drugs.  We  shall 
select  therefore  from  a  large  amount  of  data  facts 
concerning  certain  drugs  which  offer  striking  confirma- 
tory evidence  in  support  of  our  major  theme. 

In  general,  according  to  their  effect  upon  the  kinetic 
system,  drugs  may  be  divided  into  two  classes :  first, 
those  that  stimulate  the  kinetic  system  to  increased 
activity,  and  as  a  consequence  produce  histologic 
changes  in  the  brain,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver;  and 
second,  those  that  suspend  or  depress  the  activity  of 
the  kinetic  system,  and  as  a  consequence  conserve 
the  kinetic  organs,  as  is  evidenced  after  their  adminis- 
tration by  the  lack  of  histologic  changes  in  the  brain, 
the  adrenals  and  the  liver,  and  in  some  instances  by 
increased  hyperchromatism,  indicating  that  during  the 
quiescent  period  the  stores  of  energy  in  the  brain,  at 
least,  have  actually  been  increased. 

Strychnin 

Our  experiments  have  shown  that  the  changes  in 
the  kinetic  organs  produced  by  drugs  of  the  first  class 

285 


286     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

are  precisely  the  same  as  the  cycle  of  changes  produced 
by  the  emotions,  physical  exertion  or  other  forms 
of  kinetic  stimulation.  For  example,  according  to  the 
dosage,  strychnin  causes  intense  excitement  —  con- 
vulsions —  ending  in  exhaustion  and  death ;  a  lesser 
degree  of  excitation  followed  by  lassitude ;  slight 
stimulation  without  notable  after-results ;  while  the 
histologic  changes  in  the  brain,  adrenals  and  liver - 
especially  marked  in  the  brain  —  display  these  physio- 
logic alterations  in  proportional  hyperchrom&tism  in 
the  active  stages  and  %pochromatism  in  the  stages  of 
reaction. 

Opium 

Abundant  clinical  and  experimental  evidence  exists 
to  show  that  opium  blocks  or  depresses  the  cerebral 
link  of  the  kinetic  system.  Every  one  knows  that  deep 
opium  narcotization  prevents  anger,  fear,  shock,  mus- 
cular and  mental  work,  and  in  addition  the  clinician 
knows  that  opium  diminishes  fever  and  controls 
anaphylactic  phenomena.  Of  most  vital  significance 
to  our  theme,  however,  is  the  fact,  established  by 
laboratory  experimentation,  that  deep  opium  narcoti- 
zation prevents  the  output  of  adrenin.  (See  Fig.  4S.) 
Even  in  large  doses,  however,  opium  does  not  prevent 
the  action  of  adrenin  injected  intravenously.  \\V 
have  shown  in  previous  chapters  that  adrenin  is  a 
powerful  activator  of  the  kinetic  system,  but  it  may  be 
well  in  this  instance  to  refer  again  to  the  fact  that 
adrenin  causes  all  the  phenomena  of  kinetic  activity 
-  with  one  exception,  an  increase  in  adrenal  out- 
put. Adrenin  causes  all  the  phenomena  of  fever, 


ACTION   OF   CERTAIN   DRUGS      287 

of  emotion  and  of  physical  exertion  and  even  prepares 
the  way  for  gross  muscular  activity  in  that  it  increases 
the  capacity  of  the  muscles  to  use  glycogen  (Cannon)  ; 
and  most  significant  of  all,  adrenin  facilitates  the  elimi- 
nation of  the  acid  by-products  of  muscular  action. 
Any  agent,  therefore,  that  controls  the  output  of  ad- 
renin controls  proportionally  the  conversion  of  energy  into  ' 
heat  and  motion. 

If  opium  acts  directly  on  the  central  battery  —  the 
brain  —  so  that  its  energy  cannot  be  mobilized  to  , 
drive  the  various  organs  of  the  body,  one  would  infer 
that  through  its  action  on  the  brain,  opium  must  pre- 
vent the  histologic  changes  produced  by  kinetic  stimuli. 
The  truth  of  this  inference  is  strikingly  evidenced  by 
experiments  in  which  rabbits  were  given  large  doses  of 
morphin  either  before  or  immediately  after  receiving 
doses  of  diphtheria  toxin.  Histologic  examination  of 
the  brain,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver  of  each  of  these 
animals  showed  that  the  morphin  had  almost  wholly 
prevented  the  histologic  changes  which  previous  ex- 
periments had  shown  to  be  caused  by  diphtheria  toxin 
alone. 

In  studying  the  effect  of  morphin  on  the  H-ion  con- 
centration of  the  blood,  we  found  that  deep  narcoti- 
zation does  not  change  the  normal  alkalinity  of  the 
blood  —  at  least  not  until  the  stage  of  asphyxia  in 
fatal  cases ;  that  in  a  morphinized  animal  psychic  and 
traumatic  stimuli  cause  neither  the  clinical  nor  his- 
tologic changes  nor  the  degree  of  acidosis  normally 
associated  with  a  comparable  degree  of  kinetic  stimu- 
lation of  like  type ;  but  that  the  administration  of 
morphin  after  the  H-ion  concentration  of  the  blood 


288     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

had  been  increased  by  exertion,  by  fear,  or  by  inhala- 
tion anesthesia  delayed  the  return  of  the  blood  to  its 
normal  alkalinity.  From  these  observations  we  infer 
that  morphin  interferes  with  the  activity  of  the  mech- 
anism by  means  of  which  acidity  is  overcome  and  by 
which  the  normal  alkaline  state  is  maintained.  In  this 
fact  we  find  further  evidence  that  oxygen  metabolism 
is  as  important  in  acid  elimination  as  in  acid  pro- 
duction. 

These  facts  from  the  laboratory  and  the  clinic  lead 
to  the  conclusion  that  through  its  specific  action  on 
the  brain,  opium  controls  the  kinetic  system  and  there- 
fore governs  the  rate  and  extent  of  energy  transforma- 
tion in  response  to.  kinetic  stimuli  whether  from  the 
internal  or  the  external  environment.  If  this  be  so, 
then  opium  may  be  made  to  serve  a  beneficial  purpose 
in  protecting  the  kinetic  system  from  exhaustion  and 
death  from  excessive  acute  activation.  It  is  known 
that  opium  improves  certain  chronic  diseases,  in  the 
etiology  of  which  kinetic  activation  plays  an  important 
role,  such  diseases,  for  example,  as  cardiovascular 
disease,  Bright's  disease,  neurasthenia,  Graves'  dis- 
ease, etc.  What  is  accomplished  by  rest  for  these 
cases  may  be  temporarily  accomplished  by  opium. 

Opium  is  almost  a  specific  in  the  prevention  of  shock 
and  in  urgent  cases,  therefore,  the  preoperative  admin- 
istration of  morphin  is  an  essential  part  of  the  com- 
plete technique  of  anociation.  Since,  as  we  have 
stated,  opium  interferes  with  the  neutralization  of 
acidity,  it  is  especially  indicated  as  a  preventive  of 
shock,  and  is  contraindicated  during  inhalation  an- 
esthesia. 


ACTION   OF   CERTAIN   DRUGS      289 

Not  only  the  shock  which  results  from  physical 
trauma  but  psychic  shock  as  well  may  be  mitigated 
by  the  administration  of  opium.  Before  the  days  of 
anesthesia  heavy  doses  of  laudanum  diminished  not 
only  the  pain  but  the  dread  and  struggles  of  the  pa- 
tient to  whom  the  solace  of  unconsciousness  during 
an  operation  was  denied.  During  the  French  Revo- 
lution the  public  executioner  gave  opium  to  his  victims 
to  diminish  their  struggles  and  protests.  When  under 
the  influence  of  opium,  a  cat  will  not  spit  at  a  dog ;  a 
rabbit  has  no  fear.  Under  opium  no  one  is  either 
brave  or  a  coward,  but  is  in  a  negative  state  into 
which  psychic  stimuli  cannot  penetrate. 

In  cases  of  exophthalmic  goiter  the  administration 
of  opium  will  minimize  or  prevent  the  hyperthyroidism 
due  to  psychic  or  physical  trauma.  In  extreme  cases 
of  Graves'  disease,  however,  when  the  acid-neutralizing 
organs  —  the  liver  and  adrenals  —  are  nearly  exhausted 
and  a  state  of  acidosis  exists,  <morphin  is  unsafe,  since 
it  will  further  retard  the  already  failing  acid-neutrali- 
zation. 

It  is  probable  that  most  deaths  from  acute  infection 
are  the  result  of  an  activation  of  the  kinetic  system 
to  the  breaking  point.  This  fatal  exhaustion  in  acute 
overwhelming  cases  may  therefore  be  prevented  by  deep 
opium  narcotization.  In  the  last  generation  the  value 
of  opium  in  these  cases  was  more  generally  recognized 
than  at  present.  By  the  so-called  "Alonzo  Clark" 
method,  opium  was  given  in  sufficient  dosage  to  over- 
come abdominal  distension  and  reduce  the  respiratory 
rate  to  eight  or  ten  per  minute.  In  this  trancelike 
state  the  kinetic  system  was  held  almost  at  a  stand- 


290     MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

still,  the  energy  in  the  body  thus  being  conserved  until 
phagocytosis  overcame  the  infection. 

Acids  and  Alkalies 

Laboratory  experiments  in  which  an  acute  acidosis 
was  produced  by  the   injection   of   various   acids 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  cere-         Section  of  cerebellum         Section  of  cerebellum 
bellum  of  cat.  of  cat  after  injection  of     of  cat  after  injection  of 

acid  sodium  phosphate,     sodium  bicarbonate. 

FIG.  71.  —  THE  COMPARATIVE  EFFECTS  OF  AN  ACID  AND  OF  AN  ALKALI 

ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  CATS. 

Compare  the  Purkinje  cells  in  the  three  sections,  noting  in  C  the  con- 
serving effect  of  the  alkali  as  compared  with  the  disorganizing  effect  of  the 
acid  in  B. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

hydrochloric    acid,    acid    sodium    phosphate,    etc.  - 
directly  into  the  circulation  gave  ample  evidence  in 
gross   phenomena   and   in   histologic   changes   of   the 


ACTION   OF   CERTAIN   DRUGS 

fact  that  acids  interfere  with  the  activity  of  the  kinetic 
system.  In  every  case  extensive  histologic  changes 
were  seen  in  the  brain,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver; 
and  iodin  determinations  gave  evidence  of  the  fact 
that  there  was  increased  thyroid  activity  also. 


A.  B.  c. 

Section  of  normal  Section  of  adrenal  of        Section  of  adrenal  of 

adrenal  of  cat.  cat    after    injection    of    cat    after    injection    of 

acid  sodium  phosphate,     sodium  bicarbonate. 

FIG.  72.  —  THE  COMPARATIVE  EFFECTS  OF  AN  ACID  AND  OF  AN  ALKALI 
ON  THE  ADRENALS  OF  CATS. 

Note  the  disappearance  of  cytoplasm  in  C,  and  the  eccentric  and  crenated 
nuclei  as  compared  with  the  nearly  normal  appearance  of  C. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

On  the  other  hand  after  the  administration  of  an 
alkali  —  sodium  bicarbonate  —  histologic  studies  of  the 
brain,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver  showed  a  hyper  chro- 
matic condition  corresponding  to  the  hyper  chromatic 
condition  produced  by  the  administration  of  morphin 


MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

alone,  thus  showing  that  alkalies  tend  to  conserve  while 
acids  destroy  the  mechanism  of  energy  transformation. 
(Figs.  71,  72,  73.) 

Clinical  evidence  of  the  protective  value  of  alkalis 
is  shown  by  the  value  of  the  administration  of  sodium 


A.  B.  c. 

Section  of  normal  liver       Section  of  liver  of  cat         Section  of  liver  of  cat 
of  cat.  after  injection  of   acid    after  injection  of  sodium 

sodium  phosphate.  bicarbonate. 

FIG.  73.  —  THE  COMPARATIVE  EFFECTS  OF  AN  ACID  AND  OF  AN  ALKALI 

ON  THE  LIVERS  OF  CATS. 

Note  the  disappearance  of  cytoplasm  and  of  nuclei  and  the  vacuolated 
spaces  in  B  as  compared  with  the  conservation  of  cell  substance  in  C. 
(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

bicarbonate  in  cases  in  which  acidosis  is  present  or 
is  impending,  and  by  the  widespread  medical  use  of  the 
conserving  alkalis  and  the  restricted  use  of  the  destroy- 
ing acids.  No  one  recommends  acid  mineral  springs. 


ACTION   OF   CERTAIN   DRUGS      293 

lodin  —  Adrenin 

The  effects  of  these  substances,  which  are  the  es- 
sential constituents  of  thyroid  secretion  and  of  adrenal 
secretion  respectively,  and  the  adaptive  reaction  of  the 
organic  mechanism  to  each  have  already  been  fully 
discussed.  It  is  sufficient  here  to  repeat  that  both 
iodin  and  adrenin  cause  increased  energy  trans- 
formation, the  one  almost  instantaneously,  the  other 
after  a  latent  period.  The  effect  of  adrenin  is  evanes- 
cent ;  the  effect  of  iodin  is  sustained ;  each  in  excessive 
doses  causes  acidosis :  each  in  excessive  doses  causes 
histologic  changes  in  the  brain,  the  adrenals,  and  the 
liver ;  and  each  causes  many  of  the  phenomena  of  emo- 
tion, exertion,  injury,  infection  and  Graves'  disease. 

Inhalation  Anesthetics  —  Ether  —  Nitrous  Oxid 

Although  nitrous  oxid  and  ether  alike  produce 
unconsciousness,  the  effects  of  their  administration 
differ  in  certain  respects.  While  we  are  not  pre- 
pared to  assign  the  cause  of  this  difference,  we  can 
apply  the  test  of  histologic  examination  of  the  brain, 
the  adrenals  and  the  liver  after  the  administration  of 
each.  Prolonged  administration  of  ether  produces  histo- 
logic changes  in  these  organs,  corresponding  in  kind,  if 
not  in  degree,  to  the  histologic  changes  produced  by 
strychnin,  alcohol,  acids,  etc.  After  the  prolonged  ad- 
ministration of  nitrous  oxid,  on  the  other  hand,  the  cells 
of  the  brain,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver  are  found  to  be 
hyperchromatic,  as  after  the  administration  of  morphia 
or  sodium  bicarbonate.  Further  evidence  of  the  conser- 
vative power  of  nitrous  oxid  as  compared  with  the  de- 


L< 

£,' 

m 


A.  Section  of  normal  cerebellum  of  a  dog.  B.  Section  of  cerebellum  of  a  dog  after 
injection  of  diphtheria  toxin.  C.  Section  of  cerebsllum  of  a  dog  after  injection  <>f 
diphtheria  toxin  plus  morphin.  D.  Section  of  cerebellum  of  a  dog  after  injection  of 
diphtheria  toxin  and  the  continuous  administration  of  nitrous  oxid  for  four  hours. 

FIG.  74.  —  PROTECTIVE  EFFECT  OF  MORPHIN  AND  OF  NITROUS  OXID  ON  THK  BKAIN- 
CELL8  OF  DOGS  WHICH  HAD  RECEIVED  INJECTION  OF  DlPHTHKKIA  Tnxi.V. 

Compare  the  Purkinje  cells  in  C  and  D  with  the  disintegrated  hypochromatic  cells  in 
B.  (From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 


A  Section  of  normal  adrenal  of  a  dog.  B.  Section  of  adrenal  of  a  dog  after  injection 
01  diphtheria  toxm.  C.  Section  of  adrenal  of  a  dog  after  injection  of  diphtheria  toxin 
fiflM  morphin.  D.  Section  of  adrenal  of  a  dog  after  injection  of  diphtheria  toxin  and 
the  continuous  administration  of  nitrous  oxid  for  four  hours. 

FIG.  75.  —  PROTECTIVE  EFFECT  OF  MORPHIN  AND  OF  NITROUS  OXID  ON  THE  ADRENALS 

OF    DOGS    WHICH    HAD    RECEIVED    INJECTION    OF    DIPHTHERIA    TOXIN. 

Note  the  general  disappearance  of  cytoplasm  and  nuclei  in  B  and  compare  with  the 
normal  appearance  of  C  and  the  conserved  nuclei  in  D.  (From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 


296     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE    MECHANISM 

structive  effect  of  ether  was  found  in  laboratory  studies 
on  the  effect  on  animals  of  the  simultaneous  adminis- 
tration of  an  infection  —  diphtheria  toxin  —  with  ether 
or  with  nitrous  oxid. 

In  animals  which  received  a  dose  of  diphtheria 
toxin  and  were  kept  under  ether  anesthesia  for  four 
hours,  greater  histologic  changes  were  produced  in  the 
brain,  adrenals  and  liver  than  were  found  in  other 
animals  given  a  like  dose  of  diphtheria  toxin  but  not 
anesthetized  at  all.  On  the  other  hand,  in  animals 
given  diphtheria  toxin  and  kept  for  four  hours  under 
continuous  nitrous  oxid  anesthesia,  the  cells  of  the 
brain,  adrenals  and  liver  not  only  were  unchanged,  but 
in  some  instances  were  hyper  chromatic,  corresponding 
closely  to  the  cells  of  these  three  organs  in  animals  which 
had'  been  subjected  to  diphtheria  toxin  and  morphia, 
or  to  sodium  acid  phosphate  and  sodium  bicarbonate. 
(Figs.  74,  75,  76.) 

This  evidence  shows  that  by  the  simultaneous  use 
of  morphia  and  nitrous  oxid,  as  in  the  operation  under 
anodation,  the  greatest  possible  protection  has  been 
given  to  the  kinetic  system. 

Summary 

Thus,  at  will,  by  the  administration  of  certain  drugs, 
the  kinetic  organism  of  man  and  animals  may  be  acceler- 
ated, retarded  or  its  action  suspended. 

Thus,  at  will,  by  the  use  of  drugs  we  may  produce 
in  the  organism  phenomena  which  resemble  those 
produced  by  fever,  infection,  emotion,  etc.,  and  in  like 
manner  the  phenomena  of  sleep  or  death  may  be 
produced. 


A.  Section  of  normal  liver  of  a  dog.  B.  Section  of  liver  of  a  dog  after  injection  of 
diphtheria  toxin.  C.  Section  of  liver  of  a  dog  after  injection  of  diphtheria  toxin  plus 
morphin.  D.  Section  of  liver  of  a  dog  after  injection  of  diphtheria  toxin  and  the  con- 
tinuous administration  of  nitrous  oxid  for  four  hours. 

FIG.  76.  —  THE  PROTECTIVE  EFFECT  OF  MORPHIN  AND  OF   NITROUS   OXID  ON  THE 
LIVERS  OF  DOGS  WHICH  HAD  RECEIVED  INJECTION  OF  DIPHTHERIA  TOXIN. 

Note  the  vacuolation  of  B  and  compare  with  the  conservation  of  nuclei  and  cytoplasm 
in  C.  (From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 


CHAPTER  XII 

ACTION    PATTERNS  ;     CONSCIOUSNESS   AND    SLEEP 

Action  Patterns 

WE  know  that  the  brain  contains  the  mechanism 
that  drives  the  body;  we  know  that  environment 
drives  the  brain  and  that  environmental  forces  reach 
the  brain  through  the  mediation  of  the  sense  organs. 
But  what  is  the  mechanism  within  the  brain  by  means 
of  which  a  given  stimulus  causes  different  effects  in 
different  brains?  Why  will  one  man  run  away  and 
another  attack  on  receipt  of  identical  stimuli  ? 

We  postulate  that  the  adaptive  reactions  of  the 
organism  are  executed  by  mechanisms,  each  of  which, 
like  a  wireless  station,  awaits  the  arrival  of  the  specific 
impulse  which  is  to  awaken  it  to  specific  response. 
Between  the  ceptor  organs  of  the  eye,  the  ear,  the  nose, 
the  sensory  nerve  endings  in  the  skin  and  the  nerves 
governing  muscles  and  glands  there  intervenes  an 
intricate  network  of  action  patterns.  As  over  the 
same  copper  wire  may  be  transmitted  the  voice,  a 
telegraph  message,  a  dynamic  charge  of  electricity 
for  firing  a  mine,  lighting  a  concert  hall  or  driving 
an  engine,  —  so  over  the  same  nerve  or  group  of  nerves 
may  be  transmitted  impulses  destined  for  the  pro- 
duction of  terror,  of  sudden  flight  or  of  the  reactions 
of  eating  or  drinking.  Thus  during  consciousness  the 

298 


ACTION   PATTERNS  299 

brain  is  the  seat  of  a  continual  flow  of  opposing,  assist- 
ing, crossing  and  interfering  impulses,  the  amount  of 
fatigue  produced  being  proportional  to  the  number 
and  strength  of  stimuli  that  evoke  responses,  whether 
these  responses  be  those  of  gross  activity  or  of  mere 
perception. 

It  is  not  \is  difficult  as  it  seems  at  first  to  conceive 
how  the  most  complex  reactions  have  been  built  out 


FIG.  77.  —  CROSS-SECTION  OF  LEAF  AND  HAIR  OF  VENUS'  FLY-TRAP. 

Drawing  showing  the  cellular  mechanism  which  corresponds  to  the  nerve 
path  in  animals.  The  expansion  or  compression  of  these  cells,  resulting 
from  the  touch  of  an  insect,  causes  the  leaf  to  close  upon  the  insect  in  a  few 
seconds,  like  a  trap. 

of  the  less  complex  by  the  simple  process  of  multiply- 
ing the  number  and  sources  of  stimuli.  In  the  motor 
response  of  Venus'  fly-trap  we  have  a  simple  action 


300     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

pattern.  In  my  laboratory,  Miss  Menten  identified  the 
conducting  path  over  which  the  stimulus  apparently 
travels  to  the  effector  mechanism  of  Venus'  fly-trap. 
(Fig.  77.)  Here  a  response  takes  place  by  means  of 
one  continuous  path  of  conduction  without  .any  break  in 
its  entire  length.  Without  a  brain  or  a  nervous  system, 
but  with  the  equivalent  of  nerve  fiber  in  the  form  of  a 
tissue  which  contains  lecithin-like  compounds  and  salts 
similar  to  those  in  nerve  tissue,  the  plant  organism 
makes  a  response  to  an  adequate  stimulus  as  specific 
as  are  any  of  the  responses  made  by  man.  When  a 
fly  alights  upon  the  skin  of  man,  it  causes  a  tickling 
sensation  and  is  immediately  brushed  off;  when  it 
lights  upon  the  hairlike  appendages  of  Venus'  fly-trap, 
it  is  caught  by  the  motor  mechanism  of  the  plant, 
bathed  with  digestive  fluid  and  consumed.  By  an 
analogous  process  the  same  stimulus  has  caused  two 
similar  reactions  in  vastly  dissimilar  beings  —  one 
without  a  brain,  the  other  with  a  brain.  In  one  case 
the  stimulus  traveled  to  a  central  organ  where  energy 
was  released  which  in  turn  activated  a  specific  set 
of  muscles  to  perform  a  specific  act.  In  the  second 
case  the  stimulus  traveled  directly  to  the  effector 
mechanism,  probably  releasing  energy  along  the  way. 
In  Venus'  fly-trap  but  one  receptor  and  one  effector 
mechanism  has  been  evolved  for  but  one  adaptive  re- 
action. In  man  many  receptor  and  effector  mechanisms 
have  been  evolved  for  numerous  reactions  in  response 
to  numberless  stimuli. 

If  it  were  necessary  for  Venus'  fly-trap  to  catch 
its  food  by  running  instead  of  by  passive  attraction, 
the  plant  would  doubtless  have  evolved  a  mecha- 


ACTION   PATTERNS  3C1 

nism  coordinating  the  organism  for  running  —  in  other 
words,  a  brain.  The  difference  between  Venus'  fly- 
trap and  man  is  the  difference  between  the  number  of 
mechanisms  possessed  by  each.  A  multiplication  of 
the  single  action  pattern  of  Venus'  fly-trap  equals  the 
mechanism  of  man. 

Pawlow  has  shown,  in  a  recent  work,  that  new  re- 
flexes may  be  created  in  an  animal  by  -superimposing 
new  stimuli  upon  older  ones,  simultaneously  with  the 
occurrence  of  old  reflexes.  Thus,  when  a  dog  is  being 
fed,  if  he  be  frequently  subjected  to  a  painful  electri- 
cal stimulus  applied  to  a  given  area  of  skin,  a  reflex 
to  this  electrical  stimulus  will  soon  develop  which  is 
precisely  like  that  shown  in  response  to  the  exhibition 
of  food.  This  reflex,  which  corresponds  to  an  action 
pattern,  is  termed  a  "  conditioned "  reflex,  in  contrast 
to  the  normal  or  "  unconditioned "  reflex. 

As  an  explanation  of  the  creation  of  the  new  reflex, 
Pawlow1  states  that  the  "  nervous  impulse  resulting 
from  the  stimulus,  which  formerly  went  to  a  particular 
region  of  the  nervous  system,  is  now  directed  to  a  dif- 
ferent one."  He  says:  "In  this  way  we  have  been 
able  to  direct  the  impulse  from  one  path  to  another, 
according  to  the  conditions ;  and  we  cannot  avoid  the 
conclusion  that  this  represents  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant functions  of  the  highest  parts  of  the  central  nerv- 
ous system." 

In  some  such  manner,  doubtless  by  a  slow  and  con- 
tinuous process,  the  changing  conditions  of  environ- 
ment have  superimposed  new  stimuli  upon  the  old 
until  by  the  infinitely  varying  stimuli  which  simul- 

1  Pawlow  :  The  Investigation  of  the  Higher  Nervous  Function. 


302     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

taneously  compete  for  entrance,  the  brain  patterns  of 
man  have  been  modified  and  the  complex  reactions  of 
social  adaptations  have  succeeded  the  simple  processes 
of  food-getting  and  injury-avoidance  which  were  suffi- 
cient for  the  primitive  organism. 

Theoretical  Structure  of  Action  Patterns  —  Effector 
Ceptors 

The  manner  in  which  this  vast  multiplicity  of 
adaptive  responses  is  achieved  and  their  specificity 
established  may  be  inferred  from  the  facts  that  the 
nerve  paths  over  which  impulses  pass  from  the  periph- 
ery to  the  brain  are  insulated ;  that  the  nerve  paths 
over  which  pass  the  motor  impulses  from  the  brain 
to  the  periphery  are  insulated ;  and  that  the  innumer- 
able conducting  paths  in  the  brain  are  not  insulated. 
From  this  arrangement  we  infer  that  it  is  necessaiy 
that  impulses  from  the  sense  organs  to  the  brain,  and 
impulses  from  the  brain  to  the  muscles,  be  carried  in- 
tact and  undisturbed ;  whereas  within  the  brain  it  is 
necessary  —  or  immaterial  —  that  impulses  be  dis- 
seminated freely. 

Reflection  upon  these  two  opposite  types  of  struc- 
ture within  the  brain  and  without  the  brain  suggests 
the  following  .hypothesis  regarding  the  manner  in 
which  action  patterns  are  constructed. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  brain  is  composed  of 
mechanisms  of  three  general  types,  one  for  supplying 
motor  power  —  the  brain-cells ;  another  for  conduct- 
ing this  motor  power  as  action  currents;  and  the 
third,  specific  receptor  mechanisms  within  the  brain 


ACTION   PATTERNS  303 

whose   function   is   that   of   receiving  specific   action 
currents  —  effector  ceptors. 

Furthermore,  we  may  assume  that  these  receptor 
mechanisms  are  endowed  with  the  quality  of  being 
permanently  modified  by  each  impulse  that  passes 
over  them,  as  a  result  of  which  the  subsequent  passage 
of  an  identical  impulse  is  facilitated. 

Our  assumption  is  that  the  number  and  architecture 
of  action  patterns  have  been  determined  by  natural 
selection ;  that  no  pattern  exists  but  has  selection 
value ;  and  that  all  these  patterns  freely  communicate 
with  each  other,  and  thus,  indirectly,  with  all  the  cells 
of  the  brain.  We  suppose  that  in  the  brain  there  are 
millions  of  naked  microscopic  "  wires,"  communicating 
with  millions  of  microscopic  " batteries"  -the  brain- 
cells.  Thus  among  the  brain-cells  there  is  the  freest 
possible  intercommunication,  and  thus  they  communi- 
cate on  the  one  hand  with  the  sense  organs  through 
the  peripheral  nerve  paths,  and  on  the  other  hand 
through  the  specific  receptors  —  effector  ceptors  - 
with  the  muscles  of  the  body. 

At  first  sight  this  hypothesis  would  seem  to  indicate 
chaos  within  the  brain  and  confusion  without.  But 
how  such  an  apparently  chaotic  arrangement  could 
fabricate  with  precision  the  functions  of  the  brain 
becomes  evident  when  we  recall  that  one  of  the  first 
suggestions  in  our  hypothesis  was  that  all  the  multi- 
tude of  action  patterns  were  not  fabricated  at  once, 
but  that  first  one  and  then  another  action  pattern 
was  developed  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  evolving 
organism,  each  new  adaptation  establishing  its  own 
path  of  least  resistance  so  that  now,  although  each 


ACTION   PATTERNS  305 

nerve  impulse  on  reaching  the  brain  may  have  access 
to  any  one  of  the  innumerable  patterns,  entrance  is 
secured  to  only  that  pattern  by  which  the  least  re- 
sistance is  offered.  That  is  to  say,  whether  an  im- 
pulse shall  pass  over  this  or  that  or  any  action  pattern 
depends  upon  the  degree  of  resistance  which  has  been 
established  by  the  past  experience  of  the  organism ; 
while  the  degree  of  vigor  of  the  response  depends  upon 
the  physical  state  of  the  brain-cells. 

The  assumption  that  by  the  lack  of  insulation  each 
pattern  is  connected  with  every  part  of  the  brain  — 
with  all  the  brain-cells  —  suggests  an  explanation  of 
the  fact  that  all  the  energy  of  the  brain  may  be  drawn 
upon  by  any  one  or  by  a  group  of  action  patterns; 
thus,  for  example,  the  vigorous  continuous  use  of  the 
muscles  of  a  hand  or  a  foot  may  ultimately  exhaust 
the  entire  brain. 

The  postulation  of  receptor  mechanisms  —  effector 
ceptors  —  within  the  brain  receives  some  support  from 
the  following  arguments :  (a)  In  some  fish  receptor 
mechanisms  are  known  to  exist  in  the  brain;  (6)  the 
eye  and  other  sense  organs  may  be  considered  as  re- 
ceptor mechanisms  projected  outside  of  the  brain ; 

(c)  the  known  receptor  mechanism  of  the  eye  bears  a 
resemblance   to   certain  structures  within  the  brain 
whose  function  may  equally  well  be  receptive  (Fig.  78) ; 

(d)  if  the  nerve  receptor  mechanisms  of  the  eye,  the 
ear  and  other  sense  organs  are  adapted  to  specific 
energies,  why  may  not  similar  nerve  structures  within 
the  brain  likewise  act  as  specific  energy  receptors? 

(e)  if  the  sense  receptor  organs  mediate  between  the 
external  environment  and  the  brain,  why  is  it  not 


306     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

logical  to  assume  the  existence  of  receptor  organs 
within  the  brain  mediating  between  the  inflowing 
impulses  and  the  outgoing  action  currents? 

The  innumerable  receptor  mechanisms  —  effector  cep- 
tors  —  in  the  brain  may  be  likened  to  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  wireless  receiving  stations  each  of  which 
registers  only  those  messages  received  from  the  specific 
transmitter  to  which  it  is  adjusted;  or  they  ma}'  bo 
compared  to  a  vast  number  of  tone  receptors  in  a 
great  chamber,  each  of  which  will  deliver  its  specific 
note  only  in  response  to  sound  waves  of  a  specific 
length  and  velocity. 

In  such  manner  one  may  suppose  that  each  of  the 

innumerable  stimuli  that  reaches  the  brain  activates 

only  the  action  pattern  which  by  that  master-artificer 

-  Environment  —  has  been  attuned  to  that  stimulus. 

Application  of  Theory  of  Action  Patterns 

If  the  predication  of  such  a  method  of  evolving 
character  and  individuality  seems  strange,  it  may  be 
well  to  contemplate  the  steps  by  which  man  from 
the  moment  of  his  birth  acquires  the  " experience"  by 
means  of  which  he  is  able  to  cope  with  environment. 

There  are  first  the  simple  reactions  of  sucking,  cry- 
ing, winking,  sneezing.  Gradually,  more  contacts, 
some  beneficial,  some  harmful,  are  made.  Objects 
and  persons  stand  out  from  the  chaos  of  sur- 
roundings, judged  and  catalogued  by  the  one  stand- 
ard of  their  effect  on  him  —  the  infant.  We  may 
suppose  that  each  new  contact  writes  a  new  rec- 
ord on  the  delicate  matrix  —  a  record  of  the  sev- 


ACTION   PATTERNS  307 

eral  stimuli  which  participate  in  the  activation  - 
especially  the  coincident  stimuli  of  the  distance  and 
of  the  contact  ceptors.  Thus  the  sight  of  the 
mother  and  the  sound  of  her  voice  are  coincident 
stimuli  with  those  of  the  acquisition  of  food  —  and,  as 
in  Pawlow's  dog,  the  action  pattern  of  acquiring  food  is 
in  physical  connection  with  the  sight  stimuli  and  voice 
stimuli  of  the  mother.  Thus  is  associative  memory  devel- 
oped. Each  new  adequate  stimulus  writes  a  new  record 
—begins  a  new  action  pattern — and  when  two  or  more 
stimuli  act  simultaneously  the  resultant  pattern  will 
ever  after  be  activated  in  like  manner  by  each  stimulus. 
Thus  in  time,  as  one  after  another  the  contact  stimuli 
of  environment  become  associated  with  simultaneous 
distance  ceptor  stimuli,  the  action  patterns  are  more 
and  more  activated  by  the  associated  distance  ceptor 
stimuli  alone.  Thus  step  by  step,  action  patterns 
made  by  the  simultaneous  stimulation  of  contact  and 
distance  ceptors  become  connected  until  in  time  ac- 
tivation is  effected  almost  completely  through  distance 
ceptor  stimuli  alone. 

After  a  contact  with  a  given  object  has  once  been 
associated  with  a  sight,  a  sound  or  a  smell,  the  taste, 
smell  or  sight  of  that  object  will  excite  activity  toward 
contact  or  away  from  contact  according  as  the  object 
is  beneficial  or  harmful.  For  example,  the  contact 
ceptor  stimulus  of  fire  would  be  simultaneous  with 
the  distance  ceptor  stimulus  of  light  and  the  action 
pattern  of  withdrawal  would  be  stimulated.  Subse- 
quent to  this  association,  the  accompanying  sight 
stimulus  alone  activates  the  moving^away  action 
pattern  —  and  the  child  therefore  never  again  makes 


308     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

contact  with  fire.  The  distance  ceptor  stimuli  of  light 
and  heat  take  the  place  of  contact  ceptor  stimuli. 

On  the  other  hand,  let  the  infant  be  given  a  bottle 
of  milk ;  it  feels  the  bottle  (contact  stimulus) ;  it 
sees  the  bottle,  smells  the  milk  (distance  stimulus) ; 
the  nipple  is  placed  between  its  lips  and  the  action 
pattern  of  sucking  is  excited.  Thus  the  child  obtains  its 
first  experience  with  a  nursing  bottle.  The  simulta- 
neous repetition  of  the  same  contact  and  distance  cep- 
tor stimuli  repeats  the  excitation  of  the  same  action 
patterns  until  in  time  the  sight  of  the  bottle  alone 
stimulates  the  food-getting  action  pattern. 

Thus  from  contact  with  each  new  factor  in  the  en- 
vironment, distance  ceptor  stimuli  come  to  be  inter- 
preted in  terms  of  contact  ceptor  stimuli.  In  like 
manner  sign  language,  spoken  language  and  written 
language  at  first  were  parts  of  action  patterns  which 
first  were  stimulated  by  contact  ceptors.  The  be- 
ginning of  mathematics  is  the  action  pattern  of  laying 
one  block  upon  another.  So  the  natural  sciences  have 
been  evolved  from  the  simple  action  patterns  created 
by  such  stimuli  as  heat,  cold,  movement,  weight, 
sound  and  light,  by  an  ever  increasing  addition  of 
associated  action  patterns.  Thus  too  has  been  evolved 
the  language  of  emotions.  Education  and  training 
are  probably  the  sum  total  of  secondary  action  pat- 
terns introduced  into  the  brain,  and  engrafted  upon 
the  original  contact  ceptor  action  patterns.  Thus  the 
action  of  the  individual  becomes  inevitable ;  and  by 
this  conception  we  may  interpret  the  life  phenomena 
and  actions  of  man  and  animals. 

The  action  patterns  of  the  child,  which  are  wrought 


ACTION   PATTERNS  309 

upon  its  brain  by  contact  with  its  immediate  family 
environment,  are  permanent.  Thus  language,  cus- 
tom, religion,  conduct  and  the  conventions  of  races 
and  peoples  are  transmitted  through  the  generations. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  a  newborn  Puritan  babe, 
whose  plastic  brain  has  received  no  action  pat- 
terns, wrere  to  be  placed  in  the  arms  of  a  Pat  a- 
gonian  Indian,  its  brain  would  receive  and  record 
the  Patagonian  language,  customs  and  religion  — 
and  no  other;  and  if  that  transplanted  child  re- 
mained until  middle  life  exclusively  in  the  new  environ- 
ment, no  influence  could  take  from  that  brain  all  the 
action  patterns  derived  from  that  environment,  though 
other  action  patterns  might  be  superimposed.. 

The  Hindoo,  Chinaman,  Brahmin,  Teuton,  Briton, 
Bushman,  Christian  or  Pagan  has  acquired;  brain 
patterns  which  are  ready-made  by  the  envi/dbment 

into  which  he  has  been  born  and  in  the  midst  of  which 

^     > 

he  has  been  reared ;  and  not  until  the  stronger  stimulus 
of  the  necessity  of  race  preservation  intervenes  will 
the  old  conventions,  customs  and  languages  give  way 
to  the  new. 

The  plasticity  of  the  brain  may  be  observed  on  a 
large  scale  in  the  results  obtained  in  the  schools  of  J), 
cosmopolitan  city  like  New  York,  where  the  children,^ 
of  immigrants,  drawn  from  all  quarters  of  the  globe  h 
from  Iceland  to  Australia,   are  subjected  to  similar* 
educational   influences.     The   mass   in   the    "melting / 
pot,"  as  it  has  aptly  been  termed,  rapidly  approaches-'   C 
a  semblance  of  homogeneity,  not  alone  in  mental  and 
moral  characteristics  but  even  in  facial  characteristics, 
as    has    been    shown    by    students    of   physiognomy. 


310     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Polish,  Russian,  Jewish,  Irish,  English,  German, 
Scandinavian,  African,  Spanish  and  Hindoo  children 
rapidly  lose  their  definite  lines  of  demarcation  under 
the  steady  drill  of  new  teachings  and  new  sur- 
roundings. When  intermarriage  shall  have  added  its 
influence  to  that  of  education,  the  structural  lineaments 
of  race,  as  well  as  the  customs  and  manners  of  these 
descendants  of  the  first  products  of  the  melting  pot, 
will  in  many  essentials  be  indistinguishable  from  those 
of  the  descendants  of  the  Mayflower  pilgrims. 

The  greatest  single  influence  in  bringing  about 
this  leavening  of  the  mass  and  the  production 
of  a  common  type  of  humanity  is  the  spread  of 
commercial  interests  and  scientific  knowledge.  The 
new  ideas,  new  customs,  new  languages,  new  reli- 
gions and  new  inventions  of  invading  strangers  are 
accepted  or  rejected  in  the  proportion  in  which 
they  are  indispensable  to  life.  In  proportion  as  the 
Mexican,  the  Hindoo,  the  Chinaman  and  the  African 
need  recreation,  food,  clothing  and  improved  dwellings 
do  they  accept  the  American  missionary  or  German 
hardware.  One  may  interpret  the  habits,  thoughts, 
customs  and  reactions  of  individuals,  classes  and  races 
by  the  conception  that  they  are  produced  by  an  activat- 
ing environment  playing  on  a  plastic  nerve  mechanism, 
and  producing  action  patterns  whose  responses  to 
recurring  stimuli  are  inevitable.  As  with  Pawlow's 
dog,  any  set  of  action  patterns  may  be  modified  by 
superadded  associations. 


ACTION   PATTERNS  311 

Consciousness  and  Sleep 

On  the  basis  that  the  reactions  of  man  and  animals 
may  be  interpreted  in  terms  of  action  patterns  we 
may  interpret  the  phenomena  of  consciousness  and 
lack  of  consciousness  or  sleep. 

With  the  first  cry  of  the  newborn  babe  in  response 
to  the  adequate  stimulation  of  its  contact  ceptors, 
begins  the  development  of  consciousness.  Bright 
lights,  certain  sounds,  the  primary  colors,  the  sun, 
the  green  fields,  sky  and  water,  animals,  people;  the 
experience  of  sitting  erect,  of  creeping,  walking  and 
talking,  of  playing  games,  of  the  kindergarten;  ju- 
nior-grade sports ;  senior-grade  duties ;  graduation ; 
human  relations;  marriage,  —  all  the  experiences  of 
life  from  moment  to  moment,  from  day  to  day;  from 
year  to  year,  add  new  action  patterns.  Thus  as  the 
human  organism  progresses  from  infancy  to  manhood 
new  action  patterns  are  constantly  added  to  environ- 
mental contacts.  The  activation  of  these  patterns 
constitutes  man's  conscious  life.  By  this  conception 
consciousness  is  the  response  to  environmental  stimuli:  i 
sleep  is  the  absence  of  response  to  environmental  stimuli. 

For  at  least  two  months  before  birth,  the  fetus  is 
ready  to  be  conscious,  but  lacks  the  adequate  environ- 
mental stimuli  which  cause  the  reactions  of  conscious- 
ness. The  only  difference  between  the  unconscious 
fetus  and  the  awake  newborn  babe  is  found  in  the 
few  simple  responses  made  by  the  latter  to  the  stimuli 
of  light,  sound  and  physical  contact. 

As  consciousness  increases,  motor  reactions  increase 
likewise,  and  the  time  consumed  in  sleep  lessens. 


312     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

In  certain  species  of  animals,  the  maximum  of  con- 
sciousness and  minimum  of  sleep  is  established  promptly 
at  birth,  owing  to  the  requirements  for  nutrition  and 
the  necessity  for  an  immediate  motor  adaptation 
against  constantly  menacing  enemies.  Only  in  those 
species  in  which  the  parents  are  able  to  defend  their 
young  against  enemies  and  to  supply  them  with  food  is 
there  a  period  of  prolonged  unconsciousness  after 
birth.  Birds  which  nest  in  the  branches  of  trees  and 
are  hidden  from  their  enemies  sleep  much  of  the  time 
during  the  first  days  after  they  are  hatched ;  but 
birds  which  nest  on  the  ground,  and  depend  for  safety 
upon  their  ability  to  run  and  hide  from  prowling  ene- 
mies, are  conscious  and  able  to  run  almost  as  soon  as 
they  are  hatched.  For  example,  young  quail  are 
sometimes  seen  running  about  with  pieces  of  shell  still 
on  their  backs.  Aquatic  birds  are  awake  and  active 
as  soon  as  they  are  hatched.  The  eaglet,  on  the  con- 
trary, which  spends  its  early  days  on  the  inaccessible 
peaks  of  rocky  promontories,  develops  slowly.  The 
offspring  of  the  herbivora  are  wide  awake  and  able  to 
walk,  even  to  run,  on  the  first  day  after  birth.  The 
herbivora  are  dependent  upon  flight  for  their  safety ; 
while  the  young  of  the  carnivora,  which  are  able  to 
defend  their  offspring,  sleep  for  days  after  their  birth. 
This,  and  the  quality  of  food,  may  explain  why  the 
hunted  herbivora  eat  more,  and  oftener,  and  sleep  less 
than  do  the  pursuing  carnivora.  The  herbivora,  need- 
ing to  be  constantly  on  guard,  use  more  fuel  and 
hence  need  to  replenish  their  resources  more  constantly 
and  abundantly ;  while  the  carnivora,  secure  from 
attack,  divide  their  time  between  hunting  and  sleep- 


ACTION  PATTERNS  313 

ing,  thus  requiring  a  minimum  of  food  —  an  advantage 
to  the  herbivora  as  well.  Of  all  animals,  the  bird, 
perhaps,  is  the  most  intensely  conscious :  it  transforms 
relatively  the  most  energy  and  eats  proportionally 
most  of  all. 

In  certain  physiological  states  in  which  conscious- 
ness is  at  a  low  ebb  because  of  age  or  disease,  there  may 
be  noted  a  similar  coincidence  between  diminished 
consciousness  and  diminished  motor  adaptation.  In 
the  senile,  in  the  anemic  and  in  patients  with  cerebral 
softening,  or  in  whom  the  brain  is  compressed  as  the  re- 
sult of  a  hemorrhage  or  a  tumor,  there  exists  a  state 
of  diminished  consciousness  and  a  correspondingly 
limited  capacity  for  muscular  action  which  is  analo- 
gous to  these  conditions  in  the  newborn  babe.  It  is  of 
further  interest  to  note,  in  this  connection,  that  in 
these  states  of  reduced  consciousness,  it  requires  but 
a  small  amount  of  an  anesthetic  or  narcotic  to  produce 
unconsciousness  or  even  death.  In  the  aged,  the 
anemic  or  the  newborn,  a  small  dose  of  morphia 
may  be  fatal.  Conversely,  the  more  intense  the  con- 
sciousness, whether  from  emotion  or  injury,  the  greater 
the  amount  of  ether,  nitrous  oxid  or  morphia  required 
to  produce  unconsciousness. 

It  would  appear  from  these  facts,  that  the  mecha- 
nism which  is  specifically  influenced  by  anesthetics 
and  narcotics  is  the  mechanism  by  means  of  which,  in 
a  manner  as  yet  unknown,  normal  sleep  is  produced. 
It  is  obvious  that  consciousness  is  depressed  in  sleep ; 
and  that  the  phenomena  of  sleep  —  muscular  re- 
laxation, incoordination,  diminished  consumption  of 
oxygen,  diminished  output  of  carbon  dioxid,  lowered 


314     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

metabolism,  diminished  rate  of  pulse  and  respiration 
and  lowered  temperature  and  blood-pressure  —  are 
all  phenomena  of  diminished  consciousness.  (Fig.  79.) 
That  sleep  only  partially  suspends  the  brain  function 
is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  during  sleep  there  may 
be  a  partial  response  to  stimuli,  such  as  is  indicated 
by  the  shifting  of  posture  and  by  moving  in  response 
to  a  call.  It  is  particularly  the  function  of  the  special 
senses  which  is  suspended ;  and  it  is  in  response  to 
stimulation  of  the  special  senses,  as  we  have  shown, 
that  most  of  the  energy  of  the  body  is  expended. 
Nevertheless,  even  while  the  function  of  the  special 
senses  is  suspended,  there  may  continue  in  the  brain  a 
symbolic  train  of  action  in  the  form  of  word  pictures 
or  dreams  which,  if  sleep  be  light,  are  recorded  on  the 
feeble  consciousness  of  the  sleeper  and  may  be  recalled 
on  awakening.  The  subconscious  memory  of  some 
dominating  experience  of  the  day  may  break  through 
light  sleep  and  cause  a  muscular  response. 

That  the  maintenance  of  consciousness  requires  a 
transformation  of  energy  by  the  kinetic  system  is 
evidenced  by  the  histologic  changes  produced  by  pro- 
longed continuous  loss  of  sleep  in  the  organs  of  the 
kinetic  system  of  rabbits,  and  in  the  fact  that  these 
lesions  can  be  restored  only  during  sleep ;  during  un- 
consciousness produced  by  nitrous  oxid  anesthesia ;  or 
to  some  extent,  when  consciousness  is  depressed  hy 
morphia.  Our  experiments  indicate  that  the  lesions 
of  the  kinetic  system  produced  by  emotion,  by  exertion, 
by  infection,  like  the  lesions  due  to  prolonged  con- 
sciousness, are  repaired  only  during  sleep.  During 
sleep,  activating  stimuli  are  apparently  grounded. 


ACTION  PATTERNS 


315 


Photo  by  Wm.  J.  Brownlow. 

FIG.  79.  —  SLEEPING  CHILD. 

The  energy  expended  in  waking  activities  is  being  restored  in  sleep. 
Compare  the  relaxed  position  of  the  whole  body  as  shown  here  with  the 
muscular  action  in  Fig.  82. 


316     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

As  daylight  and  darkness  blend  into  one  another 
by  infinitesimal  intervals,  so  that  none  may  say  where 
daylight  ends  and  darkness  begins,  so  consciousness 
and  sleep  blend  into  one  another.  The  brain  is  the 
arena  in  which  countless  stimuli  pass  and  repass, 
cross,  combine,  oppose  and  interfere,  wax  and  wane 
in  intensity,  appear  and  disappear;  now  one  gains 
the  final  common  path,  now  another,  thus  creating 
an  infinity  of  kaleidoscopic  patterns,  in  which  hopes 
and  fears,  desires,  sentiments,  actions,  go  to  make  up 
the  manifold  life  —  the  consciousness  of  the  individual. 
Life  and  adaptation  to  environment  begin  and  end  in 
unconsciousness.  Unconsciousness  is  the  basic  state ; 
consciousness  is  the  evoked  state.  The  sum  total  of 
consciousness  is  the  sum  total  of  the  adaptive  responses 
made  by  the  kinetic  system  throughout  the  span  of  life. 

And  as  these  adaptive  reactions  vary  widely  from 
species  to  species,  and  from  individual  to  individual, 
so  consciousness  varies.  The  newborn  individual, 
like  the  individual  weakened  by  some  hereditary 
defect  or  disease,  —  the  cretin,  the  victim  of  hypothy- 
roidism  or  hypopituitarism,  —  cannot  reach  a  useful 
height  of  consciousness,  cannot  attain  a  large  sum 
total  of  consciousness.  Likewise,  the  individual  whose 
thresholds  are  low  to  only  a  limited  number  of  stimuli 
reaches  but  a  limited  degree  of  consciousness  within 
the  limited  environment  which  is  open  to  him.  The 
man  whose  mind  is  closed  to  the  beauties  of  nature, 
music  and  art  has  a  consciousness  limited  to  an  envi- 
ronment devoid  of  a  number  of  activating  stimuli. 
The  musician,  or  any  specialized  worker  who  responds 
intensely,  and  for  the  most  part  only,  to  the  stimuli 


ACTION   PATTERNS 


317 


which  are  connected  with  his  work  attains  to  but  a 
limited  degree  of  consciousness,  and  is,  so  to  speak, 
unconscious  to  most  of  his  environment.  That  indi- 
vidual has  lived  most,  has  experienced  the  highest 
degree  and  the  largest  sum  total  of  consciousness,  who 
has  responded  most  to  the  widest  variety  of  stimuli; 
who  has  acquired  and  made  use  of  the  greatest 
number  of  action  patterns. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


Pain 

THE  specific  response  of  pain  to  stimulation  of  the 
contact  ceptors  has  been  discussed  in  Chapter  III. 
There  we  considered  the  distribution  of  pain  areas ; 
the  types  of  contact  ceptor  stimuli  that  elicit  pain ;  the 
specificity  of  the  pain  response  to  the  exciting  stimulus ; 
a«nd  the  fact  that  pain  is  always  associated  with  a  pro- 
tective muscular  action.  It  remains  to  consider  the 
biologic  utility  and  the  mechanism  of  the  pain  which  is 
elicited  by  pathologic  conditions. 

Here  too  the  law  of  phylogenetic  association  is  easily 
applied,  for  as  response  to  contact  ceptor  stimulation  is 
most  intense  in  the  parts  most  commonly  subjected 
to  attack  and  to  physical  injury,  such  as  the  tips 
of  the  fingers,  the  palms  of  the  hands,  the  soles  of  the 
feet,  the  chest  and  the  abdomen,  while  the  deeply 
protected  portions  of  the  body,  such  as  the  liver,  spleen, 
kidneys,  brain  and  lungs  are  pain-negative,  so  a  type 
of  infection  which  is  associated  with  pain  when  it 
involves  one  portion  of  the  body  may  be  painless 
when  it  involves  another  portion.  Tuberculosis  of  the 
lungs,  for  example,  is  painless,  while  intense  pain  is 
associated  with  tuberculosis  of  the  hip. 

I  believe  it  will  be  found,  on  careful  analysis,  that 
the  infections  which  are  associated  with  pain  are  those 

318 


PAIN,   LAUGHTER   AND   WEEPING    319 

in  which  there  is  danger  that  the  disease  may  be  extended 
by  muscular  action,  or  in  which  fixation  of  the  parts  by 
continued  muscular  rigidity  is  of  distinct  advantage  in 
overcoming  the  disease. 

In  such  diseases  as  scarlet  fever,  typhoid  fever, 
measles,  malaria,  whooping  cough,  typhus,  syphilis  in 
the  early  stages,  and  in  fact  in  most  of  the  exanthe- 
mata in  which  the  organism  as  a  whole  is  quickly  in- 
volved by  the  dissemination  of  infection,  and  in  which 
muscular  action  can  render  no  assistance,  there  is,  as 
a  rule,  no  pain.  On  the  contrary,  the  infections  gen- 
erally associated  with  pain  are  the  pyogenic  infections, 
of  which  local  inflammation,  boils,  carbuncles,  felons 
and  abscesses  are  common  instances  —  infections  the 
main  characteristic  of  which  is  a  local  point  of  involve- 
ment or  focus. 

A  fundamental  and  striking  difference  between  the 
painless  exanthemata  and  the  painful  pyogenic  infec- 
tions is  found  in  the  fact  that,  in  the  case  of  the  former, 
the  protective  response  of  the  body  is  wholly  chemical  - 
the  formation  in  the  blood  of  anti-bodies  which  usually 
produce  a  permanent  immunity,  while  in  the  latter 
the  defense  is  largely  phagocytic.  In  the  pyogenic 
infections,  in  order  to  protect  the  remainder  of  the 
body,  which  enjoys  no  immunity,  every  possible  barrier 
against  the  spread  of  the  infection  is  thrown  about  the 
local  point  of  infection.  Lymph  is  poured  out  and 
the  part  is  fixed  by  the  continuous  contraction  of  the 
neighboring  muscles  and  by  the  inhibition  of  those 
muscles  which  by  the  ordinary  exercise  of  their  func- 
tions would  spread  the  disease.  As  would  be  expected, 
this  continuous  contraction  is  associated  with  pain. 


320     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Wherever  a  continued  inhibition  of  muscular  ac- 
tion in  the  vicinity  of  a  local  infection  would  be  of  no 
assistance  in  localizing  the  disease,  or  in  those  parts 
of  the  body  in  which  muscular  activity  is  a  fundamental 
requirement  of  life  —  as,  for  instance,  in  the  lungs  - 
there  pyogenic  infection  is  unattended  by  pain.  Thus, 
no  muscular  rigidity  and  consequently  no  pain  is  as- 
sociated with  pyogenic  infections  in  the  substance  of 
the  liver,  in  the  substance  of  the  kidney,  within  the 
brain,  in  the  retroperitoneal  space,  in  the  lobes  of  the 
lungs,  in  the  chambers  of  the  heart  or  in  the  blood 
vessels  of  the  chest  or  the  abdomen. 

Another  type  of  pain,  headache,  more  indirectly 
but  none  the  less  positively,  modifies  muscular  action 
in  the  body.  Headache  is  one  of  the  most  common 
initiatory  symptoms  of  various  infections,  especially 
of  those  which  are.  accompanied  by  no  local  pain  and 
no  local  muscular  action.  On  the  other  hand,  headache 
is  rarely  associated  with  peritonitis,  cholecystitis, 
pleurisy,  arthritis,  appendicitis,  salpingitis,  childbirth, 
obstructions  of  the  intestinal  and  the  genito-urinary 
tract — with  any  condition,  in  short,  the  local  symptoms 
of  which  are  overwhelming  enough  to  govern  the  indi- 
vidual, as  a  whole,  to  make  him  lie  down  and  keep 
quiet)  refuse  food  and  possibly  reject  what  is  already  in 
the  stomach.  But  in  diseases  in  which  the  protecting 
local  pain  is  absent,  such  as  the  exanthemata,  typhoid 
fever,  auto-intoxication,  in  which  no  dominating  dis- 
turbance acts  as  a  policeman  to  put  the  patient  to 
bed  and  to  force  him  to  refuse  food  that  he  may  be 
in  a  more  favorable  condition  to  combat  the  oncom- 
ing disease  —  in  these  conditions,  headache  serves  a 


PAIN,   LAUGHTER   AND   WEEPING 

beneficent  and  important  purpose.  The  body,  stricken 
by  acute  infection  or  poisoned  by  auto-intoxication, 
needs  to  rest  and  to  fast ;  hence  the  entire  muscular 
system  obeys  the  command  of  this  single  pain,  located 
in  the  controlling  organ  of  the  body,  and  muscular 
relaxation  follows. 

Strange  and  yet  intelligible,  in  view  of  this  concep- 
tion, is  the  fact  that,  although  a  headache  may  be 
induced  by  even  a  slight  auto-intoxication,  an  abscess 
may  exist  in  the  brain  itself  without  causing  pain. 
Inhibition  of  muscular  action  is  a  protection  in  one 
case ;  in  the  other  it  is  useless.  In  like  manner  this 
principle  may  explain  the  acute  pain  that  is  present 
when  an  obliterative  endarteritis  is  threatening  a  leg 
with  anemic  gangrene,  or  when  one  lies  too  long  in 
the  same  position  on  a  hard  bed  so  that  injury  from 
local  anemia  threatens.  But  when  the  obliterative 
endarteritis  threatens  anemia  of  the  brain,  or  when  an 
embolism  or  thrombosis  has  produced  anemia  of  the 
brain,  there  may  be  no  pain,  for  muscular  action,  which 
in  the  former  instance  would  be  a  protective  response, 
in  the  latter  would  be  of  no  use. 

A  most  striking  instance  of  the  protective  nature  of 
pain  is  found  in  the  phenomena  of  peritonitis. 
Through  the  law  of  natural  selection,  the  peritoneum, 
in  its  relation  to  vast  fields  of  possible  infection,  has 
become  wonderfully  endowed  with  mechanisms  for 
resisting  and  overcoming  infection.  If  the  focus  can 
be  localized,  almost  any  infection  in  the  peritoneum  can 
be  overcome.  This  localization  is  accomplished  by 
holding  the  muscular  intestinal  walls  still  and  rigid 
against  a  large  volume  of  gas,  and  by  quickly  throwing 


MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

out  a  fixative  fluid  or  exudation.  As  a  secondary  adap- 
tation, the  stomach  contents  are  ejected  by  vomiting, 
so  that  a  protective  anorexia  against  useless  food 
also  stands  guard. 

If  our  conclusions  are  correct,  why  are  certain  cases, 
familiar  to  every  surgeon,  of  widespread  general  peri- 
tonitis, cholecystitis  or  of  other  abdominal  lesions 
unaccompanied  by  pain,  often  without  muscular 
rigidity  or  tenderness  even,  so  that  the  surgeon  may 
be  misled  in  his  diagnosis,  and  the  result  may  be  fatal  ? 
In  seeking  an  explanation  for  these  cases,  which  are 
almost  invariably  found  either  among  the  aged  or  the 
very  young,  we  are  led  to  formulate  a  postulate  re- 
garding the  source  or  the  site  of  pain. 

The  Site  of  Pain 

If  pain  is  a  part  of  a  muscular  response  and  occurs 
only  as  a  result  of  stimulation  to  muscular  activity  by 
physical  injury,  infection,  anemia  or  obstruction,  in 
what  part  of  the  nervous  arc  may  the  mechanism  for 
the  production  of  pain  be  found  ?  Are  the  pain  phe- 
nomena associated  with  the  physical  contact  of  the 
stimulus  with  the  nerve  ending ;  with  the  process  by 
which  the  impulse  is  transmitted  along  the  nerve 
trunk ;  or  with  the  process  by  which  the  energy  in  the 
brain-cells  is  released  and  the  impulse  to  the  muscles 
is  transmitted  ?  It  seems  most  probable  that  pain  is 
associated  with  the  discharge  of  energy  by  which  the 
motor  act  is  made  possible. 

If  this  be  true,  then,  if  every  contact  ceptor  in  the 
body  were  equally  stimulated  in  such  a  manner  that 
all  stimuli  reached  the  brain-cells  simultaneously. 


PAIN,   LAUGHTER   AND   WEEPING     323 

then  the  brain-cells  would  be  in  equilibrium  and  no 
muscular  act  —  hence,  no  pain  —  would  result.  In  the 
nearest  approach  to  this  hypothetical  condition  that 
we  know  —  instances  of  sudden  and  widespread  burn- 
ing by  fire  —  there  is  said  to  be  no  pain. 

But  if  all  the  contact  ceptors  of  the  body  but  one 
were  equally  stimulated  and  this  one  stimulated  more 
strongly  than  the  rest,  then  the  stimulus  of  the  latter 
would  gain  possession  of  the  final  common  path  and 
would  cause  a  given  muscular  contraction  and  a  sensa- 
tion of  pain.  It  is  well  known  that  when  a  greater 
pain  stimulus  is  thrown  into  competition  with  a  lesser 
pain  stimulus,  the  lesser  is  submerged.  The  schoolboy 
takes  advantage  of  this  fact  when  he  initiates  the  novice 
into  the  mystery  of  the  painless  plucking  of  a  hair.  The 
simultaneous  but  severe  application  of  the  boot  to  the 
blindfolded  victim  solves  the  problem,  and  the  hair  is 
plucked  painlessly  through  the  triumph  of  the  boot 
stimulus  over  the  hair  stimulus  in  the  struggle  for  the 
possession  of  the  final  common  path. 

This  hypothesis  is  supported  also  by  the  fact  that 
strong  contact  ceptor  stimuli  are  often  dispossessed 
by  distance  ceptor  stimuli  in  such  a  way  that  an 
injury  which  under  ordinary  conditions  would  cause 
great  muscular  contraction  and  consequent  pain,  is 
endured  in  apathy  because  of  the  victim's  complete 
obsession  by  some  emotional  stimulus.  Instances  of 
this  kind  are  seen  in  cases  of  self-inflicted  torture 
among  savage  tribes;  in  fanatics  while  under  the 
stimulus  of  religious  zeal ;  in  cases  of  physical  injury 
received  by  persons  obsessed  by  anger  or  fear;  and, 
to  a  lesser  degree,  in  sexual  emotion.  Soldiers  in  the 


,324     MAN-    AN   ADAPTIVE    MECHANISM 

midst  of  a  battle  often  experience  no  pain  from  a  wound 
and  may  not  know  they  are  wounded  until  after  the 
emotional  excitation  has  worn  off,  when  the  sensation 
of  warm  blood  on  the  skin  may  be  their  first  warning 
of  injury. 

Dr.  Livingstone,  the  African  explorer,  has  testified 
to  his  complete  unconsciousness  to  pain  during  his 
struggle  with  a  lion.  Although  he  was  torn  by  teeth  and 
claws  his  fear  overcame  all  other  impressions.  Possibly 
the  phenomena  of  hysteria  may  also  be  explained  on 
this  basis,  as  may  the  unconsciousness  of  passing  events 
in  a  person  in  the  midst  of  great  and  overwhelming 
grief.  By  constant  practice  the  student  may  secure 
the  final  common  path  for  such  impressions  as  are 
derived  from  the  stimuli  offered  by  the  subject  of  his 
study,  and  so  be  oblivious  to  his  surroundings.  Con- 
centration is  but  another  name  for  the  exclusion  of  ir- 
relevant stimuli  from  the  final  common  path. 

Since  both  psychic  and  mechanical  stimuli  cause 
motor  phenomena  by  the  excitation  of  precisely  the 
same  mechanism  in  the  brain,  and  since  the  more 
rapid  transformation  of  energy  by  psychic  stimuli  in 
these  cases  submerges  the  transformation  of  energy  by 
physical  stimuli  and  prevents  pain,  it  would  seem 
as  if  the  phenomenon  of  pain  must  be  associated  with 
the  process  of  releasing  energy  in  the  brain-cells  and 
with  the  passage  of  energy  to  the  effector  mechanism 
-the  muscles.  Were  a  physical  injury  inflicted  in  a 
quiescent  state  equal  to  that  inflicted  without  pain 
during  a  highly  emotional  state,  there  would  result 
great  pain  and  intense  muscular  activity. 

Another  viewpoint  which  throws  further  light  upon 


PAIN,   LAUGHTER   AND   WEEPING    325 

this  hypothesis  is  well  illustrated  by  the  following 
case  histories : 

Several  years  ago,  a  man,  78  years  old,  whose  chief 
complaint  was  obstinate  constipation  was  admitted  to 
the  medical  ward.  The  abdomen  was  but  slightly 
distended ;  there  was  no  fever ;  no  pain;  no  increased 
leucocytosis ;  no  muscular  rigidity;  and  but  slight 
general  tenderness.  The  patient  said  he  had  lost  in 
weight  and  in  strength  during  several  previous  months. 
A  tentative  diagnosis  of  malignant  tumor  of  the  large 
intestine  was  made,  but  free  movements  were  secured 
rather  easily  and  we  abandoned  the  idea  of  an  explora- 
tory operation.  The  patient  gradually  failed  and  died 
without  a  definite  diagnosis  having  been  made  by 
either  the  medical  or  the  surgical  service.  At  autopsy, 
there  was  found  a  widespread  peritonitis  arising  from  a 
perforated  appendix. 

An  infant  was  taken  ill  with  some  indefinite  disease. 
Several  of  the  ablest  medical  and  surgical  consultants 
of  a  leading  medical  center  thoroughly  investigated 
the  case.  Although  they  could  make  no  definite 
diagnosis,  they  all  agreed  that  surely  it  could  not  be 
appendicitis,  because  there  was  no  muscular  rigidity 
and  no  tenderness.  The  autopsy  showed  a  gangrenous 
appendix  and  general  peritonitis. 

These  two  cases  are  illustrations  of  the  principle 
that  underlies  the  freedom  from  pain  which  results 
from  the  use  of  narcotics  and  anesthetics.  It  is  the 
same  principle  that  explains  the  fact  that  cholecys- 
titis may  occur  in  the  aged  without  other  symptoms 
than  the  presence  of  a  mass  and,  perhaps,  very  slight 
tenderness.  It  accounts,  in  general,  for  the  lack  of 


326     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

well-expressed  disease  phenomena  in  the  senile  and  in 
infancy.  The  aged,  the  infant  and  the  victim  of 
general  paresis  show  but  few  symptoms  of  disease 
because  of  the  fact  that  in  senility  the  brain  is  so  de- 
teriorated, and  in  infancy  so  undeveloped,  that  the 
cerebral  mechanism  of  associative  memory  is  inactive, 
hence  pain  and  tenderness,  which  are  among  the  oldest 
associations,  are  lacking.  Senility  and  infancy  are 
by  nature  normally  narcotized.  The  senile  is  passing 
through  the  twilight  into  the  night,  while  the  infant 
is  emerging  from  the  shadows  of  dawn  into  the  day. 
Hence  it  is,  that  in  the  extremes  of  life  the  diagnosis 
of  injury  and  disease  is  subject  to  special  difficulties. 
At  such  times,  as  regards  symptoms,  the  entire  body 
is  as  silent  as  the  brain,  the  pericardium,  the  medias- 
tinum and  other  normally  symptomless  areas.  For  the 
same  reason,  when  a  patient,  seriously  ill  with  a  pain- 
ful disease,  turns  upon  the  physician  a  glowing  eye 
and  an  eager  face,  and  remarks  how  comfortable  he 
feels,  then  the  end  is  near.  The  mechanism  by  which 
the  transformation  of  energy  is  accomplished  has  run 
down.  Energy  is  no  longer  available  to  register  the 
results  of  stimulation  in  pain  any  more  than  in  motion. 
The  most  convincing  evidence  of  this  hypothesis, 
however,  is  found  in  the  prevention  of  postoperative 
pain  by  the  use  of  anociation.  According  to  our  hy- 
pothesis (explained  at  length  in  Chapter  IX),  post- 
operative pain  is  due  to  the  state  of  low  threshold 
established  in  the  brain  as  a  result  of  intense  or  repeated 
injurious  impulses.  The  site  of  postoperative  pain 
is  not  in  the  traumatized  field,  but  in  the  brain.  If 
the  traumatic  impulses  are  prevented  from  reaching 


PAIN,   LAUGHTER   AND   WEEPING     327 

the  brain  by  blocking  the  field  of  operation  with  local 
anesthesia,  the  brain  threshold  is  not  lowered,  and  there 
is  consequently  little  or  no  postoperative  pain. 

There  is  a  close  resemblance  between  the  phenomena 
of  pain  habit,  of  education,  of  physical  training  and 
of  love  and  hate.  In  education,  in  pain  habit,  in  all 
emotional  relations,  a  low  brain  threshold  is  established 
which  facilitates  the  reception  of  specific  stimuli.  All 
these  processes  are  motor  acts  or  are  symbolic  of 
motor  acts.  We  may  be  trained  to  perceive  mis- 
fortune and  pain  as  readily  as  we  are  trained  to  per- 
ceive mathematical  formulae  and  moral  precepts. 

Laughter  and  Weeping 

Much  of  the  real  nature  of  laughter  and  weeping, 
as  of  pain,  is  revealed  by  an  examination  of  their  dis- 
tribution ;  that  is,  of  the  character  of  individuals 
among  whom  they  are  common,  and  of  the  situations 
to  which  they  are  incident.  Laughter  is  an  involuntary 
rhythmic  contraction  of  certain  respiratory  muscles, 
accompanied  usually  by  certain  sounds.  The  motor 
act  involves  the  respiratory  apparatus  primarily,  but  if 
the  act  is  intense,  it  may  involve  not  only  the  muscles 
of  respiration,  but  also  most  of  the  other  muscles  of  the 
body.  There  are  many  degrees  of  laughter,  varying 
from  a  mere  brightening  of  the  eyes  and  a  fleeting 
smile  to  intense  hysterical  and  convulsive  outbursts. 
From  intense  or  prolonged  laughter,  even  exhaustion 
may  result. 

Laughter  is  sometimes  accompanied  by  the  forma- 
ion  of  tears  and  in  many  instances,  in  children  espe- 
cially, laughing  and  weeping  are  readily  interchanged. 


328     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

When   strongly  integrated  to  laughter,   the  nervous 
system  can  perform  no  other  function. 

According  to  Dai-win,  the  only  animals  which  laugh 
are  men  and  monkeys.  Other  animals  exhibit  play- 
ful phenomena,  and  some  exhibit  certain  types  of 
facial  expression  which  are  associated  with  delight. 
But  laughter,  in  the  common  sense  of  the  word,  is 
an  attribute  of  the  primates  only ;  and  even  among 
men,  proneness  to  laughter  has  a  more  or  less  limited 
distribution.  It  is  more  common,  for  instance,  among 
healthy  and  happy,  well-fed  and  comfortable  individ- 
uals, than  among  the  diseased,  the  oppressed  and 
the  poorly  nourished.  Laughter  is  more  common 
among  civilized  than  among  savage  races,  and  among 
highly  intellectual  individuals  than  among  the  stolid 
and  crude  inhabitants  of  the  waste  places  of  the  earth. 
It  is  more  frequent  among  individuals  whose  lives 
lie  in  the  easy  ways  of  luxury  and  leisure  than  among 
those  whose  waking  moments  are  filled  with  an  abun- 
dance of  muscular  activity.  The  Indian,  the  Eski- 
mau,  the  Hottentot,  laughs  seldom,  according  to  our 
standards.  The  Canadian  woodsman,  the  mountain 
guide,  the  lonely  cowboy,  the  range  rider  of  the  western 
plains,  the  heavy  burden  bearers  of  the  Orient,  the 
field  workers  among  the  poorer  peasantry  of  the  Euro- 
pean countries,  the  women  miners  of  Belgium,  are  all 
less  prone  to  laughter  —  and  also  to  weeping  —  than 
the  excitable  mental  workers  of  American  cities,  or 
the  lazy,  well-fed  and  happy-go-lucky  negro  plantation 
'hands/  The  energy  of  the  savage  and  of  the  "man 
with  the  hoe"  like  that  of  animals  is  preempted  for  a 
physical  contest  with  nature.  In  the  individual  whose 


PAIN,   LAUGHTER   AND   WEEPING    329 


life  lies  in  softer  places  there  is  always  an  excess  of 
energy  above  purely  muscular  needs. 

Proneness  to  laughter  and  to  weeping  is  modified 
by  other  conditions :   by  age,  by  sex,  by  training,  by 


Photo  by  Brown  Brothers,  N.Y. 

FIG.  80.  —  LAUGHTER  IN  A  HEALTHY  CHILD. 

An  admirable  illustration  of  the  activation  of  facial  muscles  which  is 
associated  with  hearty  laughter.  • 

mental  states  and,  preeminently,  by  the  state  of 
health  of  the  individual.  Healthy,  happy  children 
are  especially  prone  to  laughter.  (Fig.  80.)  The  aged 


330     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

laugh  less.  Women  laugh  more  than  men.  The 
healthy  happy  young  woman  on  the  verge  of  maturity 
laughs  perhaps  most  of  all,  especially  when  slightly 
embarrassed. 

What  causes  laughter?  Good  news,  high  spirits, 
tickling,  hearing  and  seeing  others  laugh ;  droll  stories ; 
flashes  of  wit  and  passages  of  humor ;  averted  injury ; 
threatened  breaches  of  the  conventions ;  and  numer- 
ous other  causes.  At  first  glance  it  would  seem  im- 
probable that  a  single  principle  underlies  all  these 
diverse  causes.  Let  us  examine  them,  however,  in  the 
light  of  the  fact  that  man  is  fundamentally  a  motor 
being,  and  that,  in  common  with  other  responses  to 
environmental  stimulation,  laughter  is  a  muscular  re- 
action. 

We  have  postulated  (Chapter  III)  that  the  laughter 
excited  by  adequate  stimulation  of  ticklish  areas  of 
the  body  is  a  recapitulation  of  ancestral  struggles 
against  the  physical  attack  of  biting  and  clawing  foes 
on  these  parts.  In  other  words,  the  laughter  excited 
by  tickling  is  a  substitute  for  the  motor  act  of  defense 
against  injury,  and  is  a  reaction  imposed  by  the  need 
for  giving  vent  to  the  energy  mobilized  in  the  kinetic 
organs  at  the  command  of  the  phylogenetic  stimulus. 
The  resultant  action  is  purposeless,  instead  of  purpose- 
ful ;  but  the  result  in  the  expenditure  of  energy  is  the 
same.  If  the  laughter  excited  be  sufficiently  intense  or 
prolonged,  the  individual  is  as  exhausted  as  if  he  had 
actually  struggled  with  an  enemy. 

In  like  manner,  the  laughter  excited  by  a  psychic 
image  is  accompanied  by  a  psychic  conception,  either 
clearly  recognized  or  vaguely  glimpsed,  but  none  the 


PAIN,   LAUGHTER   AND   WEEPING     331 

less  an  action  pattern.  We  have  shown  (Chapter  V) 
that  emotions  and  psychic  concepts,  being  responses 
to  distance  ceptor  stimulation,  are  as  truly  representa- 
tive of  motor  acts  as  are  the  responses  to  contact 
ceptor  stimulation.  Fear,  anger  and  sexual  love  are 
representations  of  definite  phylogenetic  acts,  which, 
if  they  do  not  follow  directly  upon  the  activating 
stimulus,  leave  the  body  in  a  physiological  state  of 
preparation  for  the  act,  which  means  that  a  certain 
amount  of  activating  substances,  which  must  be 
consumed  or  eliminated  are  thrown  into  the  blood 
stream.  If  a  motor  act  takes  place  in  the  midst  of 
the  emotion,  the  intensity  of  the  emotion  itself  is 
lessened.  A  man  in  anger  who  fights,  finds  his  anger 
dissipated  as  a  result  of  his  activity.  A  man  in  fear 
who  flees,  experiences  less  fear  than  he  who  waits 
motionless  for  the  outcome  of  a  situation. 

The  activating  substances  thrown  into  the  blood  by 
any  emotion  may  be  consumed  as  completely  by  any 
other  muscular  action,  as  by  the  particular  muscular 
action  for  which  these  chemical  substances  were  in- 
tended. On  this  principle,  the  purpose  and  cause  of 
laughter  and  of  weeping  may  be  explained.  If  an 
individual  be  intensely  provoked  to  anger,  one  of  three 
things  might  happen :  he  might  perform  no  physical 
act,  but  give  expression  to  the  emotion  of  anger;  he 
might  engage  in  a  physical  struggle  and  satisfy  his 
anger ;  or  he  might  immediately  engage  in  violent 
gymnastic  exercise  which  would  consume  the  motor- 
producing  elements  mobilized  in  his  body,  and  thus 
clarify  the  organism.  Laughter  and  weeping  are  the 
gymnastic  exercises  which  clarify  the  body  under  many 


332     MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

conditions  of  adequate  stimulation  to  motor  activity. 
Every  one  of  the  causes  of  laughter,  when  analyzed, 
resolves  itself  into  a  stimulation  to  motor  activity  of 
some  kind. 

Quite  by  accident  this  point  was  tested  in  our 
laboratory  during  the  course  of  some  experiments  on 
fear.  A  keen,  snappy  fox  terrier  was  completely 
muzzled  by  winding  a  strip  of  adhesive  plaster  around 
his  jaws,  so  as  to  include  all  but  the  nostrils.  He 
was  then  turned  loose  upon  a  rabbit.  When  the 
aggressive  terrier  and  the  rabbit  found  themselves 
in  close  quarters,  the  instinct  of  each  animal  asserted 
itself.  The  rabbit  crouched  in  fear,  while  the  terrier, 
with  all  the  assurance  of  its  kind  when  confronted 
by  its  natural  prey,  rushed  upon  the  rabbit  as  if  to 
seize  it,  his  muzzle  glancing  off  at  each  attempt  and 
the  attack  ending  in  awkward  failure.  These  actions 
were  witnessed,  at  various  times,  by  various  scientific 
visitors,  and  in  every  instance  the  sight  provoked 
laughter.  This  laughter  was  undoubtedly  due  to  the 
fact  that  in  the  mind  of  each  onlooker  the  spectacle  of 
the  savage  terrier  rushing  upon  the  helpless  rabbit  as 
if  to  mangle  it  aroused  a  strong  desire  to  exert  a 
muscular  act  to  prevent  cruelty.  This  integration 
caused  a  conversion  of  potential  into  kinetic  energy  in 
the  brain-cells,  and  a  discharge  of  activating  secre- 
tions into  the  blood  stream,  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
ducing the  muscular  action.  \Vhen  the  danger  was 
unexpectedly  averted,  the  preparation  for  muscular 
activity  was  appropriated  by  the  neutral  muscular 
reaction  of  laughter. 

In   children,  almost   any  unexpected  phenomenon, 


PAIN,   LAUGHTER   AND   WEEPING     333 

such  as  a  sudden  " booing"  from  behind  a  door,  will 
provoke  laughter.  In  like  manner,  in  an  adult,  a 
suddenly  averted  threat  of  danger,  a  breach  of  the 
conventions,  sudden  relief  from  acute  nervous  tension, 
a  surprise,  —  indeed,  any  excitant,  for  which  there  is 
no  predetermined  method  of  physical  response,  —  may 
give  rise  to  laughter.  In  the  same  way  the  laugh- 
ter evoked  by  jokes  may  be  explained.  An  analysis 
of  a  joke  shows  it  to  be  composed  of  two  parts,  —  a 
first  part,  in  which  is  presented  a  stimulus  to  action ; 
and  a  second  part,  in  which  the  story  suddenly  turns  so 
that  the  stimulus  to  action  is  unexpectedly  withdrawn ; 
and  so  there  are  jokes  of  the  classes  —  bankers'  jokes, 
politicians'  jokes,  professional  men's  jokes,  etc.  The 
stimulus  which  excites  one  to  action,  by  reason  of  his 
permanent  brain  patterns,  fails  to  elicit  response  from 
another  collection  of  brain  patterns,  as  the  foe  of  one 
animal  fails  to  inspire  fear  or  resentment  in  another 
whose  path  it  seldom  crosses. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  respiratory  system, 
principally,  is  utilized  for  the  muscular  clarifying  pur- 
pose of  laughter.  Why  are  not  other  muscular  por- 
tions of  the  body  utilized?  Why  do  we  not  laugh 
with  our  feet  and  hands  as  well  ?  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  by-products  of  excitation  are  often  consumed  in 
other  motor  acts  than  those  accompanying  laughter, 
as  is  shown  often  in  public  gatherings  by  the  stamping 
of  feet  and  clapping  of  hands  of  an  audience  excited 
or  amused  by  the  impassioned  or  humorous  words  of 
a  speaker ;  or  by  the  activations  of  enthusiastic  spec- 
tators at  a  championship  ball  game  as  pictured  in  Fig. 
81.  To  be  a  truly  adaptive  phenomenon,  however, 


334     MAN— AN   ADAPTIVE    MECHANISM 


PAIN,   LAUGHTER   AND   WEEPING     335 

laughter  must  not  seriously  interfere  with  any  other 
function.  Were  laughter  expressed  with  the  hands 
only,  arboreal  man  might  have  fallen  from  the  tree; 
and  if  expressed  by  the  feet,  our  equilibrium  might  be 
lost.  Laughter,  therefore,  is  expressed  by  means  of  a 
group  of  powerful  muscles  which  can  be  spared  easily 
without  seriously  interfering  with  the  maintenance 
of  posture  or  any  other  function.  In  order  that  the 
products  of  excitation  may  be  quickly  and  completely 
consumed,  the  powerful  group  of  expiratory  muscles 
must  have  some  resistance  against  which  they  can 
exert  themselves  strongly  and  at  the  same  time  pro- 
vide for"  adequate  respiratoiy  exchange.  The  inter- 
mittent closure  of  the  epiglottis  serves  this  purpose 
admirably,  just  as  a  horizontal  bar  affords  the  resist- 
ance against  which  the  muscles  of  the  athlete  may  be 
exercised. 

Weeping,  like  laughter,  is  a  part  of  the  reaction  to  a 
stimulation  to  some  form  of  motor  activity,  which  may 
or  may  not  be  performed.  (Fig.  82.)  Take  the  case  of 
a  mother  anxiously  watching  the  course  of  a  serious 
illness  in  her  child.  If,  in  caring  for  it,  she  is  stimu- 
lated to  the  utmost  to  perform  motor  acts,  she  will 
continue  in  a  state  of  motor  tenseness  until  one  of 

.  V  }    . 

two  events  occurs  —  recovery  or  death.     If.  relief  be 

•r  >V* 

sudden,  as  in  the  crisis  of  pneumonia,  and  the  mother 
is  not  exhausted,  she  will  easily  laugh.  If  tired,  she 
may  cry.  If  death  occur,  however,  the  stimulus  to 
motor  activity  is  suddenly  withdrawn  and  she  cries 
aloud  and  may  perform  many  motor  acts  as  a  result 
of  the  stimulation  to  motor  activity  which  is  no  longer 
needed  for  the  physical  care  of  her  child. 


336     MAN  — AN   ADAPTIVE    MECHANISM 


PAIN,   LAUGHTER   AND   WEEPING     337 

It  is  the  common  experience  of  every  one  to  find  that 
during  a  period  of  intense  activity  or  intense  integra- 
tion to  activity,  as  in  a  great  catastrophe  or  misfortune, 
that  the  power  to  laugh  or  weep  has  disappeared.  As 
soon  as  the  issue  that  causes  the  integration  is  deter- 
mined —  the  terror  past  or  the  doubt  removed  - 
the  whole  -being  seems  to  dissolve  in  one  tremendous 
outburst  of  tears  or  laughter,  with  the  result  that  the 
organism  is  in  part  immediately  relieved. 

With  this  key,  we  can  understand  why  laughter  and 
crying  are  so  closely  associated,  and  so  frequently 
interchangeable  under  the  same  conditions;  why 
either  gives  a  sense  of  relief  after  stress;  and  why 
neither  can  come  until  the  issue  which  has  precipitated 
the  activation  has  been  settled.  We  can  understand 
why  an  averted  breach  of  the  conventions,  which  would 
have  caused  embarrassment,  may  excite  laughter; 
and  why  the  recital  of  heroic  deeds  of  a  certain 
type  causes  tears. 

Nowhere  could  this  fact  be  more  strikingly  mani- 
fested than  in  the  scenes  of  desolation  and  wretched- 
ness described  by  eyewitnesses  of  the  physical  and 
psychic  results  wrought  by  the  present  War  of  Nations 
in  Europe.  The  characteristic  of  the  peopfle  that  most 
impresses  all  chroniclers  is  the  calm,  the  apathy  of 
those  who  have  undergone  physical  injury  or  psychic 
stress.  In  the  midst  of  battle,  no  one  weeps ;  no  one 
laughs ;  every  one  is  integrated  for  muscular  action,, 
for  killing  or  escaping.  The  crushing  of  Belgium 
caused  no  weeping  until  the  refugees  had  reached  a 
safe  haven.  Then  they  wept  abnormally.  I  saw 
striking  instances  of  this. 


338     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

These  are  illustrations  of  the  principle  which  we 
have  sought  to  make  clear  in  the  foregoing  chapters 
-  the  fact  that  the  nervous  system  acts  as  a  whole ; 
that  it  can  respond  to  but  one  stimulus  at  a  time ;  and 
that  when  the  nervous  system  is  preempted  by  one 
stimulus  to  the  point  of  exhaustion,  it  can  respond  to 
no  other  until  an  approximately  normal  condition  of 
the  kinetic  system  has  been  regained  through  rest. 
The  lack  of  the  power  to  laugh  or  weep,  and  the 
absence  of  pain  among  the  exhausted,  the  senile  and 
those  weakened  by  disease  demonstrate  the  fact  that 
the  kinetic  system  is  exhausted ;  that  it  has  been 
integrated  for  response  to  a  stimulus  stronger  than 
that  to  a  motor  activity  for  which  laughter  or  weep- 
ing is  a  relieving  substitute ;  and  that  consequently 
the  energy  required  for  laughter  or  weeping  is  no 
more  forthcoming  than  it  is  forthcoming  for  any  other 
form  of  motor  activity  under  the  same  conditions. 

A  striking  contrast  to  the  absence  of  laughter  or 
weeping  when  the  brain  thresholds  have  been  raised  by 
extreme  exhaustion  is  found  in  the  hypersusceptibility 
to  both  laughter  and  weeping,  shown  in  cases  of 
Graves'  disease  and  in  neurasthenia,  both  of  which 
are  inevitably  marked  by  weak  inhibition  and  a  low 
threshold  to  all  stimuli. 

In  Graves'  disease  the  motor  mechanism  is  in  an 
exalted  state  of  activity.  These  patients,  therefore, 
as  would  be  expected,  exhibit  an  extreme  susceptibility 
to  laughter  and  weeping  because  of  the  fact  that  thr 
motor  mechanism  is  constantly  integrated  by  the  most 
trivial  stimuli.  In  Graves'  disease  the  flood  gates 
of  tears  are  open.  The  susceptibility  to  pain  is  also 


PAIN,   LAUGHTER   AND   WEEPING    339 

intensified ;  and  in  these  patients  surgical  shock  is 
produced  with  abnormal  facility.  In  the  neurasthenic 
whose  threshold  also  is  low  to  stimuli,  the  discharge 
of  energy  in  pain  or  laughter  is  equally  facilitated. 

Since  pain,  like  laughter  and  weeping,  is  a  motor 
phenomenon,  it  is  not  surprising  that  where  pain  does 
not  give  rise  to  muscular  activity,  it  frequently  leads 
to  weeping. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

TRANSFORMATION    OF    ENERGY    AND    ACIDOSIS 

THE  blood  of  man,  under  normal  conditions,  is 
slightly  alkaline  with  a  hydrogen-ion  concentration  of 
about  7.56  in  terms  of  Sorenson's  logarithmic  notation. 
But  although  in  circulating  blood  the  H-ion  concen- 
tration upon  which  the  amount  of  acidity  depends  is 
little  more  than  that  of  distilled  water,  the  blood  is 
potentially  much  more  alkaline  than  water,  being 
able  to  neutralize  a  considerable  amount  of  acid.  At 
the  time  of  death,  from  whatever  cause,  the  con- 
centration of  H-ions  in  the  blood  is  increased,  the 
potential  or  actual  alkalinity  is  decreased,  and  the 
blood  becomes,  in  fact,  neutral  or  acid.  In  order  to 
discover  what  conditions  tend  to  diminish  the  normal 
alkalinity  of  the  blood,  observations  were  made  for 
me  in  my  laboratory  by  Dr.  M.  L.  Menten,  Dr. 
W.  J.  Crozier,  Dr.  W.  B.  Rogers  and  Dr.  B.  I. 
Harrison,  using  electrical  and  chemical  methods  for 
determining  the  H-ion  concentration  of  the  blood 
under  certain  pathologic  and  physiologic  conditions. 
As  a  result  of  these  researches  we  are  able  to  state 
that  the  H-ion  concentration  of  the  blood  is  increased 
by  excessive  muscular  activity;  by  excessive  emotional 
activation;  by  surgical  shock ;  by  asphyxia;  in  strychnin 
convulsions;  by  inhalation  anesthetics;  in  the  late  state* 
of  life  after  excision  of  the  pancreas,  of  the  liver  and 

340 


ACIDOSIS  341 

of  the  adrenals;   and   by   the   continuous   infusion   of 
adrenin  solution. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  administration  of  morphia 
causes  no  change  in  the  H-ion  concentration  of  the 
blood  nor  does  decapitation,  provided  artificial  respira- 
tion is  maintained. 

Many  observations  were  made  on  animals  near 
death  from  various  causes.  In  each  instance  the 
blood  became  increasingly  acid  as  death  approached. 
This  fact  suggests  the  following  question:  Is  the 
termination  of  life  in  many  diseases,  such  as  infections, 
Graves'  disease,  shock,  etc.,  due  to  the  failure  of  the 
body  to  maintain  its  alkalinity  ?  Certain  facts  seem 
to  support  an  affirmative  answer  to  this  question, 
namely :  (1)  the  intravenous  injection  of  certain  acids 
causes  death  quickly ;  and  (2)  the  intravenous  injec- 
tion of  acids  causes  extensive  histologic  changes  in 
the  brain,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver,  which  resemble 
the  changes  invariably  caused  by  excessive  activation 
of  the  kinetic  system. 

Certainly  it  would  seem  as  if  anesthesia  and  many 
instances  of  unconsciousness  are  associated  with  in- 
creased H-ion  concentration  of  the  blood.  As  pre- 
viously stated,  we  found  that  the  H-ion  concentration 
of  the  blood  is  increased  by  alcohol,  by  ether  and  by 
nitrous  oxid.  In  addition,  we  found  that  the  increase 
in  H-ion  concentration  was  more  gradual  under  ether 
administration  than  under  nitrous  oxid,  an  observa- 
tion which  accords  with  the  fact  that  nitrous  oxid 
induces  anesthesia  more  quickly  than  does  ether. 

Williams  has  found  that  in  animals  under  ether 
anesthesia  no  nerve  currents  are  detected  by  the 


342     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Einthoven  string  galvanometer.  If  we  postulate  that 
a  nerve  current  can  pass  from  the  brain  to  the  muscles 
and  glands  only  if  there  be  a  certain  difference  in 
potential  between  these  parts,  the  absence  of  a  nerve 
current  in  anesthetized  animals  may  be  explained 
on  the  basis  that  any  change  in  the  normal  alkalinity 
of  the  body  would  diminish  the  difference  in  potential ; 
and  hence  the  acidity  produced  by  inhalation  anes- 
thetics would  so  far  decrease  the  difference  in  potential 
as  to  inhibit  the  passage  of  the  nerve  impulse. 

According  to  this  hypothesis,  as  long  as  life  exists,  a 
string  galvanometer  of  sufficient  delicacy  should  detect 
a  nerve  current  between  the  brain  and  the  muscles  and 
glands,  that  is,  until  the  acidity  is  sufficiently  increased 
to  reduce  the  difference  in  potential  to  zero  or  the 
death  point.  During  sleep  one  would  expect  a  dimin- 
ished flow  of  action  currents.  Blood  taken  from  a 
sleeping  man  showed  normal  H-ion  concentration. 
The  histologic  changes  in  the  brain,  the  adrenals  and 
the  liver,  produced  by  acid  sodium  phosphate  appar- 
ently, are  not  repaired  during  rest  without  sleep,  but 
are  repaired  during  sleep. 

Acidosis,  therefore,  may  be  caused  by  an  intake  of 
a  smaller  amount  of  alkalies  and  bases  than  are  re- 
quired to  maintain  an  alkaline  or  neutral  state ;  by  an 
excessive  rate  of  acid  production ;  or  by  interference 
with  one  or  more  of  the  organs  of  acid  elimination. 

This  conception  of  the  relation  of  acidity  to  anes- 
thesia and  unconsciousness  harmonizes  many  facts. 
It  explains,  for  instance,  how  asphyxia,  overwhelming 
emotion  or  excessive  muscular  activity,  by  causing 
acidity,  may  produce  unconsciousness.  It  explains 


ACIDOSIS  343 

the  acidosis  resulting  from  starvation,  from  uremia, 
from  diabetes  or  from  Bright 's  disease ;  and  supplies 
a  reason  why  the  use  of  intravenous  infusions  of  sodium 
bicarbonate  sometimes  overcomes  the  coma  of  diabetes 
and  uremia.  It  may  explain  the  quick  death  from 
chloroform,  ether  and  nitrous  oxid,  and  may,  perhaps, 
suggest  why  unconsciousness  is  so  commonly  the 
immediate  precursor  of  death. 

One  of  the  most  noticeable  immediate  effects  of  the 
administration  of  an  inhalation  anesthetic  is  a  marked 
increase  in  the  rapidity  and  amplitude  of  the  respi- 
ration. The  respiratory  center  has  evidently  been 
evolved  to  act  with  increased  vigor  proportional - 
within  certain  limits  —  to  the  increase  in  the  H-ion 
concentration,  whereas  the  centers  governing  the 
voluntary  muscles  are  depressed  with  the  increase  in 
H-ion  concentration.  In  these  antithetic  reactions 
of  the  higher  cortical  centers  and  the  lower  centers  in 
the  medulla  to  acidity  we  find  a  remarkable  instance  of 
adaptation,  by  which  the  animal  is  prevented  from 
killing  itself  through  the  further  increase  in  acidity 
which  would  result  from  continued  excessive  muscular 
activity.  In  other  words,  as  the  acidity  produced  by 
muscular  activity  increases  and  threatens  life,  the  respira- 
tory action,  by  which  carbon  dioxid  is  eliminated  and 
oxygen  supplied,  ihus  diminishing  the  acidity,  is  in- 
creased, while  the  driving  power  of  the  brain,  by  which 
acidity  is  produced,  is  lessened  or  inhibited,  producing 
unconsciousness.  Without  this  life-saving  regulation, 
animals  under  stress  would  inevitably  commit  suicide. 
Direct  chemical  evidence  supports  the  postulate  that 
the  cortical  centei-s  and  the  centers  in  the  medulla 


344     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

have  been  evolved  to  react  to  acidity  in  opposite  ways ; 
namely,  the  histologic  changes  in  the  several  parts  of 
the  brain,  produced  by  the  intravenous  injection  of 
hydrochloric  acid,  acid  sodium  phosphate,  etc.,  and 
by  such  acid-producing  work  as  muscular  exertion, 
emotion,  physical  injury,  etc.,  are  uniformly  unequal. 
These  changes  are  striking  in  the  cerebral  cortex  and 
slight  in  the  medulla. 

It  is  probable  that  the  remarkable  phenomenon  of 
anesthesia  —  the  coexistence  of  unconsciousness  and 
life  —  is  made  possible  by  this  antithetic  relation  be- 
tween the  cortex  and  the  medulla.  Within  a  few 
seconds  after  the  beginning  of  nitrous  oxid  anesthesia 
the  acidity  of  the  blood  is  increased.  This  rapid 
acidulation  is  synchronous  with  almost  instantaneous 
unconsciousness  and  increased  respiration.  If  the 
amount  of  oxygen  in  the  inhaled  mixture  be  increased, 
a  decrease  in  acidity  occurs,  together  with  lighter 
anesthesia  and  a  decreased  respiratory  rate. 

If  our  premises  are  sound,  we  are  justified  in  con- 
cluding that  the  state  of  anesthesia  is  in  part,  at  least, 
the  result  of  an  induced  acidity  of  the  blood.  If  the 
reduction  of  alkalinity  be  slight,  then  the  anesthesia  is 
light,  and  the  force  of  the  nerve  impulses  is  lessened, 
but  the  patient  is  still  conscious  of  them.  As  the  alka- 
linity of  the  blood  continues  to  decrease,  associative 
memory  is  lost,  and  the  patient  is  said  to  be  uncon- 
scious ;  the  centers  governing  the  voluntary  muscles  are 
not  wholly  inhibited,  however,  since  cutting  the  skin 
causes  movements.  If  the  alkalinity  be  further  de- 
creased, there  is  loss  of  muscular  tone  and  even  the 
strong  contact  ceptor  stimuli  of  a  surgical  operation  do 


ACIDOSIS  345 

not  cause  any  muscular  response.  And,  finally,  the 
acidity  may  be  increased  to  the  point  at  which  the  re- 
spiratory and  circulatory  centers  can  no  longer  respond, 
and  anesthetic  death  —  that  is,  acid  ( ?)  death  —  fol- 
lows. It  should  be  admitted,  however,  that  increased 
acidity  and  its  phenomena  may  be  end-effects  and  not 
causes  of  anesthesia. 

Opposed  to  this  postulate  is  the  fact  that  the  in- 
jection of  sodium  bicarbonate  does  not  overcome  in- 
halation anesthesia.  Possibly  there  may  be  intra- 
cellular  acidosis  which  is  not  easily  overcome  by 
alkalies.  How  valuable  this  fact  may  be,  I  do  not 
know.  Certain  clinical  phenomena  are  clarified,  how- 
ever, by  this  postulate,  and  support  it.  For  example, 
it  is  well  known  that  inhalation  anesthesia  precipitates 
the  impending  acidosis  which  results  from  starvation, 
from  extreme  Graves'  disease,  from  great  exhaustion, 
from  surgical  shock  and  from  hemorrhage,  or  when  an 
animal  is  near  death  from  any  cause. 

In  striking  contrast  to  the  action  of  inhalation  anes- 
thetics, deep  narcotization  with  morphin  and  scopolamin 
is  induced  slowly  and  the  respiratory  and  pulse  rates  are 
progressively  lessened.  In  addition,  our  experiments 
have  shown  that  no  increase  in  the  H-ion  concentration 
of  the  blood  is  produced  by  morphin  or  by  scopolamin, 
no  matter  how  deep  the  narcotization.  In  animals  al- 
ready narcotized  by  morphin,  the  production  of  acid 
by  any  of  the  acid-producing  stimuli  was  delayed  or 
prevented.  On  the  other  hand,  in  animals  in  which 
an  acidity  had  already  been  produced  by  ether,  shock, 
anger  or  fear,  the  administration  of  morphin  delayed  or 
prevented  entirely  the  neutralization  of  the  acidity.  In 


346    MAN --AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

other  words,  morphin  interferes  with  the  normal 
mechanism  by  which  acidity  is  neutralized,  possibly 
because  its  depressing  action  on  the  respiratory  center 
is  sufficient  to  overcome  the  stimulating  action  of 
acidity  on  that  center,  for,  as  we  have  stated,  the 
neutralization  of  acidity  is  in  large  measure  accom- 
plished by  the  increased  respiration  induced  by  the 
acidity  itself ;  possibly  also  because  morphin  prevents  the 
output  of  adrenin,  and  adrenin  measurably  governs  the 
great  acid-reducing  organ  —  the  liver. 

Acidosis  in  Relation  to  Normal  and  Pathologic 
Phenomena 

If,  as  is  now  believed  by  physiologists,  the  respira- 
tory center  is  governed  by  the  H-ion  concentration  of 
the  blood,  rather  than  by  the  want  of  oxygen  merely, 
then  the  elimination  of  the  by-products  of  metabolism 
is  of  paramount  importance  in  the  maintenance  of  the 
health  of  the  organism ;  and  its  clinical  significance,  as 
pointed  out  by  many  observers,  notably  Fisher,  Hen- 
derson and  Michaelis,  is  obvious  at  once. 

In  my  laboratory  many  observations  have  been  made 
to  determine  the  effect  of  the  excision  or  functional  de- 
pression of  certain  organs  on  the  normal  reaction  of 
the  blood  and  of  the  urine.  When  the  liver  is  excised, 
the  alkalinity  of  the  blood  is  rapidly  diminished  and 
death  follows.  When  the  adrenals  are  excised,  the 
blood  maintains  its  normal  reaction  for  a  longer  time  - 
perhaps  twice  as  long  —  but  then  its  acidity  increases 
rapidly  and  death  follows.  (Figs.  83,  84.)  When  con- 
nection between  the  brain  and  the  remainder  of  the 
body  is  broken  at  the  medulla,  the  blood  remains  normal 


ACIDOSIS 


347 


for  as  long  as  eight  hours  and  shows  no  tendency  to  in- 
creased acidity.  When  the  thyroid,  spleen,  testicles, 
kidneys,  uterus,  stomach  or  intestines,  in  short  when 
any  other  organ  than  the  adrenals,  the  liver  or  the 


A. 

Section  of  normal  cere- 
bellum of  a  dog. 


B. 

Section  of  cerebellum 
of  a  dog  after  double 
adrenalectomy. 


C. 

Section  of  cerebellum 
of  a  dog  after  double 
adrenalectomy  followed 
by  injections  of  sodium 
bicarbonate. 

FIG.  83.  —  THE  PROTECTIVE  EFFECT  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A  DOG  OF 
INJECTIONS  OF  AN  ALKALI  AFTER  DOUBLE  ADRENALECTOMY. 

Note  the  disintegration  and  disappearance  of  Purkinje  cells  in  B  and  the 
normal  intact  condition  of  the  Purkinje  cells  in  C.  This  and  the  following 
figure  demonstrate  the  neutralizing  function  of  the  adrenals. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

pancreas  is  removed,  there  is  no  tendency  to  immedi- 
ate acidosis.  Apparently,  therefore,  only  the  liver,  the 
adrenals  and  the  pancreas  are  principally  engaged  in 
the  preservation  of  the  normal  alkaline  reaction  of  the 
body  fluids.  The  respiratory  system  eliminates  the 


348     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

gaseous  by-products  of  energy  transformation;  the 
kidneys  eliminate  the  acid  salts  in  solution ;  the  liver 
reduces  the  acid  by-products  to  render  them  suitable 
for  elimination  by  the  kidneys ;  the  adrenals  measur- 
ably govern  the  liver  and  perhaps  the  oxidation  process 
required  for  the  reduction  of  acid  by-products.  Oxygen 


A.  B.  c. 

Section  of  normal  liver  Section  of  liver  of  a  Section  of  liver  of  a 

of  a  dog.  dog  after  double  adre-         dog  after  double  adre- 

nalectomy.  nalectomy  followed  by 

injections   of   sodium 

bicarbonate. 

FIG.  84.  —  THE  PROTECTIVE  EFFECT  ON  THE  LIVER  OF  A  DOG  OF  INJEC- 
TIONS OF  AN  ALKALI  AFTER  DOUBLE  ADRENALECTOMY. 
Note  the  disappearance  of  cytoplasm  and  of  nuclei  from  B  as  compared 
with  the  normal  and  numerous  nuclei  and  the  conserved  cytoplasm  in  C. 
(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

is  apparently  necessary  in  some  way  to  acid  elimina- 
tion, just  as  oxygen  is  necessary  to  energy  transforma- 
tion. Adrenin  also  is  necessary  to  both. 

Let  us  examine  some  of  the  phenomena  of  normal 
and  pathologic  activation  in  the  light  of  this  hypothesis 
that  acidity  is  the  cause,  rather  than  the  result,  of  death ; 


ACIDOSIS  349 

that  acidity  blocks,  as  it  were,  the  electrical  discharge 
from  the  brain,  which  constitutes  the  principal  attri- 
bute of  life  itself. 

The  respiratory  rate  is  governed  by  the  changes  in 
the  H-ion  concentration  of  the  blood,  which  result 
from  energy  transformation  in  the  body;  the  pulse 
rate  —  provided  local  organs  are  normal  —  and  also  the 
temperature  vary  with  the  respiratory  rate.  We  know 
that  certain  diseases  are  caused  by  failure  of  the  organ- 
ism to  eliminate  acid  by-products.  Bearing  these  facts 
.in  mind,  let  us  examine  the  phenomena  of  several  forms 
of  activation.  In  great  exertion  the  characteristic  phe- 
nomena are  rapid  respiration,  rapid  pulse,  sweating, 
redness  of  the  skin,  thirst  and  a  progressive  exhaus- 
tion. In  the  great  emotions,  emotions  sufficiently  in- 
tense to  overwhelm  the  individual,  the  characteristic 
phenomena  are  the  same  —  rapid  pulse,  sweating, 
flushing,  thirst  and  exhaustion.  These  two  normal 
states  closely  resemble  each  other.  Do  they  in  turn 
resemble  the  phenomena  of  certain  pathological 
states  ? 

Note  the  phenomena  of  fever.  In  the  infections  the 
leading  symptoms  are  increased  respiration,  increased 
pulse  rate,  sweating,  flushed  face,  thirst  and  exhaus- 
tion. In  Graves'  disease  the  leading  symptoms  are 
the  same.  Thus  four  comprehensive  and  typical 
conditions  —  exertion,  emotion,  infection  and  Graves' 
disease  —  have  certain  phenomena  in  common,  a  fact 
which  strongly  suggests  that  these  phenomena  result  in 
a  large  measure,  at  least,  from  the  physical  and  chemical 
work  involved  in  the  elimination  of  acid  by-products. 
(Fig.  85.) 


350     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

Granting  this,  we  can  understand  clearly  why  acidosis 
is  so  frequently  seen  in  severe  cases  of  Graves'  disease 
and  why  acidosis  results  from  violent  fever.  We  can 
understand  the  occurrence  of  albumin  and  casts  in  the 


A.  B. 

Section  of  normal  human  cerebellum.     Section  of  human  cerebellum  after 
(After  accidental  death.)  death  from  acute  acidosi-. 

FIG.  85.  —  EFFECT  OF  ACUTE  ACIDOSIS  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A  HU- 
MAN BEING. 

In  B  note  the  complete  disintegration  of  the  Purkinje  cells  of  which  but 
faintest  traces  remain.     (See  arrows.) 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 

urine  as  a  result  of  exertion  or  emotion  and  in  Graves' 
disease. 

The  H-ion  Factor  in  Graves'  Disease 

Having  noted  that  the  symptoms  of  Graves'  disease 
resemble  closely  those  of  extreme  exertion,  of  intense 


ACIDOSIS  351 

emotion  and  of  violent  infection,  we  now  offer  the  follow- 
ing interpretation  of  these  phenomena. 

Whenever  there  is  an  increased  transformation  of 
energy,  the  H-ion  concentration  of  the  blood  is  in- 
creased. As  shown  by  Du  Bois,  in  Graves'  disease  there 
is  a  continuous  increased  transformation  of  energy, 
hence  an  increased  production  of  acid,  and,  conse- 
quently, an  increased  demand  upon  the  acid  neutraliz- 
ing power  of  the  body. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  symptoms  in  Graves'  disease 
that  may  be  due  to  acidosis  in  contradistinction  to  the 
symptoms  that  may  be  due  to  the  activation  of  the 
kinetic  system.  As  we  have  stated,  H-ion  concentration 
is  controlled  by  three  agencies :  first,  the  elimination 
of  carbon  dioxid  by  means  of  the  respiratory  organs ; 
second,  the  breaking  down  of  the  acid  by-products 
of  energy  transformation  by  the  liver;  and  third, 
the  elimination  of  the  acid  by-products  by  means  of 
the  kidneys  and  skin.  In  Graves'  disease  the  continu- 
ous excessive  transformation  of  energy  steadily  reduces 
the  neutralizing  bases  stored  in  the  body  until  acidosis 
automatically  results  from  the  loss  of  neutralizing  ma- 
terial. In  addition,  in  Graves'  disease  the  most  im- 
portant neutralizing  organ  —  the  liver  —  is  greatly 
impaired  —  brown  atrophy.  The  symptoms  of  so- 
called  hyperthyroidism  differ  very  little  if  at  all  from 
the  symptoms  of  straight  acidosis.  This  being  so,  does 
it  not  follow  that  postoperative  hyperthyroidism  is  in 
fact  an  acidosis? 

The  symptoms  of  acidosis  are  increased  respiration, 
increased  sweating,  loss  of  mental  and  muscular  power, 
restlessness  and,  in  extreme  cases,  delirium  and  uncon- 


352    MAN  — AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 


Section  of  normal  human  Section  of  cerebellum  of  a  soldier 

cerebellum.  who  had  suffered  from  hunger,  thirst 

and  loss  of  sleep ;  had  made  the  ex- 
traordinary forced  march  of  180  miles 
from  Mons  to  the  Marine ;  in  the 
midst  of  the  greatest  battle  in  history 
was  wounded  by  the  explosion  of  a 
shell ;  lay  for  hours  waiting  for  help, 
and  died  from  exhaustion  soon  after 
reaching  the  ambulance.  Compare 
the  faded-out  exhausted  Purkinje 
cells  with  the  Purkinje  cells  in  A. 
Fio.  86.  —  EFFECTS  OF  EXTREME  ACTIVATION  ON  THE  BRAIN-CELLS  OF  A 

SOLDIER. 
(From  photomicrographs,  X  310.) 


ACIDOSIS 


353 


Section  of  normal  adrenal.  Section  of  adrenal  of  soldier  de- 

scribed in  Fig.  86.  The  general 
disintegration  of  the  cells,  loss  of 
cytoplasm,  misshapen  and  eccentric 
nuclei  illustrate  the  effect  of  emotion, 
exhaustion,  lack  of  sleep,  pain  and 
trauma. 

FIG.  87.  —  EFFECTS  OF  EXTREME  ACTIVATION  ON  THE  ADRENALS  OF  A 

SOLDIER. 

(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 


2A 


354     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

sciousness.  The  increased  temperature,  increased  pulse 
rate,  flushed  face  and  flushed  extremities  are  identi- 
cal with  the  symptoms  of  so-called  hyperthyroidism. 


€ 


e 


A. 

Section  of  normal  liver. 


B. 

Section  of  liver  of  soldier  described 
in  Fig.  86.  The  general  disintegra- 
tion of  the  cells,  the  loss  of  cyto- 
plasm, and  the  vacuolated  spaces 
within  the  cells  illustrate  the  effect 
of  emotion,  exhaustion,  lack  of  sleep, 
pain  and  surgical  trauma. 

FIG.  88".  —  EFFECTS  OF  EXTREME  ACTIVATION  ON  THE  LIVER  OF  A  SOLDIER. 
(From  photomicrographs,  X  1640.) 

Furthermore,  as  postoperative  hyperthyroidism  devel- 
ops and  continues,  practically  always  a  stage  super- 


ACIDOSIS  355 

venes  in  which  there  is  acetone  in  the  breath,  and 
diacetic  acid  in  the  urine  —  a  true  acidosis. 

The  assumption  that  postoperative  hyperthyroidism 
is  a  true  acidosis  explains  also  why  it  is  that  just  be- 
fore death  in  fatal  cases  of  Graves'  disease  the  tempera- 
ture may  rise  as  high  as  107,  108  and  even  109  degrees. 
It  is  because  the  long  period  of  relative  acidosis  before 
the  operation  together  with  the  increased  acidity  result- 
ing from  the  operation,  has  taken  away  from  the  body 
the  safe  margin  of  neutralizing  bases  and  alkalies  and 
therefore  the  neutralizing  bases  in  the  living  protein 
molecules  are  seized  by  the  acids.  This  chemical  process 
of  breaking  down  the  living  protein  molecules  liberates 
heat.  This  heat  is  the  chief  cause  of  the  rise  in  tem- 
perature before  death.  We  know  that  when  the  tem- 
perature rapidly  rises  after  a  period  of  acidosis  the 
living  molecules  are  breaking  down  —  and  the  end  is 
near. 

Summary 

The  establishment  in  the  body  of  so  powerful  a  group 
of  organs  and  mechanisms  for  the  elimination  of  the 
acid  by-products  of  energy  transformation  shows  how 
vitally  necessary  is  the  maintenance  of  the  normal 
slightly  alkaline  reaction  of  the  body.  This  indicates 
that  acidosis  is  a  factor  in  many  diseases  —  acute  and 
chronic  —  and  that  the  centers  in  the  medulla  are 
stimulated  by  acidosis  while  the  higher  centers  are  de- 
pressed ;  it  suggests  an  explanation  of  the  phenomena 
of  anesthesia,  and  that  the  ultimate  cause  of  death 
is  usually  acidosis.  (Figs.  86,  87,  88.) 


CHAPTER  XV 

ELECTRO-CHEMICAL    PHENOMENA 

PHYSICISTS  tell  us  that,  in  the  last  analysis,  the  pri- 
mal stuff  alike  of  matter  and  of  energy  is  electricity. 
Whatever  may  be  the  superficial  aspects  of  man's  form 
and  functions,  ultimately  they  are  phenomena  of  elec- 
tricity. We  may  well  ask,  therefore :  Is  the  trans- 
formation of  energy  by  which  men  and  animals  are 
enabled  to  adapt  themselves  to  their  environment  effected 
through  an  electro-chemical  mechanism? 

If  this  be  true,  there  should  be  evidence  to  show : 
(1)  that  electricity  is  produced  in  the  body ;  (2)  that 
a  current  of  nerve  action,  an  electrical  phenomenon, 
always  accompanies  the  passage  of  the  nerve  impulse ; 
(3)  that  in  motor  organs  the  electro-motive  force  of  this 
current  varies  with  the  rate  and  extent  of  energy  trans- 
formation ;  (4)  that  when  there  is  no  transformation 
of  energy,  there  is  no  action  current ;  (5)  that  electric- 
ity alone,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  can  excite  vari- 
ous organs  and  tissues  to  perform  their  function ; 

(6)  that  in  the  body  are  structures  well  suited  to  be 
parts  of  an  electro-chemical  mechanism  which  is  capa- 
ble of  performing  the  work  of  the  body ;  and  fin  all}' 

(7)  that  no  other  form  of  mechanism  is  capable  of 
performing  this  work. 

One  of  the  oldest  established  facts  in  the  physiology 
of  plants  and  animals  is  the  fact  that  there  is  an  electro- 

356 


ELECTRO-CHEMICAL   PHENOMENA     357 

negative  variation  during  action.  This  was  long  ago 
studied  in  the  sensitive  plant.  Bose  has  shown  that 
electric  currents  are  present  in  all  plant  activities.  He 
has  plotted  curves  of  electric  variation  corresponding 
to  periods  of  activity  and  of  rest,  and  has  shown 
that  life  and  electric  phenomena  end  simultaneously. 
Osterhaut  has  shown  that  the  normal  electric  phenom- 
ena in  kelp  are  changed  by  anesthetics,  by  iodin,  by 
acidity  and  by  varying  the  concentration  of  sodium, 
potassium  and  magnesium  salts  in  the  solution  in 
which  the  kelp  is  immersed.  He  showed  that  the 
permeability  of  the  plant  cells  varies  with  the  activity 
of  the  plant,  and  that  at  death  this  electric  phenomenon 
disappears.  He  also  showed  that  the  amount  of  energy 
in  plants  corresponds  with  the  degree  of  permeability 
to  electric  currents  at  the  surfaces  of  plant  cells.  R.  S. 
Lillie  established  similar  facts  regarding  the  perme- 
ability of  the  larva?  of  the  marine  worm,  Arenicola. 
Lillie  and  Osterhaut  believe  that  the  electric  phenomena 
of  life  in  animals  and  plants  are  dependent  upon  changes 
in  the  permeability  of  the  semi-permeable  membranes 
which  surround  vegetable  and  animal  cells. 

Lillie  applied  Nernst's  laws  to  the  life  phenomena  of 
the  Arenicola.  He  produced  strong  evidence  that  these 
are  electric  phenomena  and  are  dependent,  primarily, 
upon  the  permeability  of  the  cells.  The  work  of  Lillie 
strongly  suggests  that  the  essential  phenomena  of  life 
are  identical  with  the  phenomena  of  electricity,  that 
is,  with  variations  in  ionic  concentration  and  changes 
in  permeability  of  the  semi-permeable  membranes  —  in 
short,  with  the  reactions  of  an  electro-chemical  mecha- 
nism. Robertson  showed,  moreover,  that  by  using  oils, 


358     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

alkalies  and  acids,  most  of  the  cellular  phenomena 
of  animals  could  be  reproduced. 

After  exhaustive  studies  of  nerve  currents,  Williams 
and  Crehore,  making  observations  with  an  Einthoven 
string  galvanometer,  constructed  an  artificial  nerve 
which  gave  convincing  evidence  that  the  nerve  action 
current  is  identical  with  electricity.  An  extract  from 
the  report  of  these  experiments  of  Williams  and  Crehore 
to  the  Society  for  Experimental  Biology  and  Medicine, 
reads  as  follows : 

"  Nearly  two  centuries  ago  it  was  surmised  that  the 
nervous  impulse  might  be  of  the  nature  of  an  electric 
current,  but  in  the  absence  of  definite  proof  the  hypoth- 
esis was  rejected,  especially  as  objections  were  raised 
to  it  which  seemed  insuperable.  It  is  difficult,  if  not 
altogether  impossible,  to  reconcile  all  experimental 
results  with  the  consequences  of  the  molecular  theory. 
If,  however,  we  regard  the  nerve  as  an  electrical  con- 
ductor with  distributed  capacity,  we  are  able  to  ac- 
count for  many  of  the  fundamental  experimental 
phenomena  and  also  to  predict  the  results  of  new  ex- 
perimental conditions.  It  has  long  been  known  that 
the  speed  of  electricity  on  wires  is  less  than  the  speed 
in  free  space  and  the  formulae  for  calculating  these 
velocities  are  well  understood.  The  rate  of  propaga- 
tion of  electricity  in  a  conductor  similar  in  form,  size 
and  material  to  a  nerve  fiber  should  be,  according  to 
these  formulae,  of  approximately  the  same  order  of 
magnitude  as  has  been  measured  for  the  rate  of  the 
nervous  impulse. 

"  The  enormous  reduction  of  velocity  (about  ten 
million  times)  is  chiefly  attributable  to  the  great  ohmic 


ELECTRO-CHEMICAL   PHENOMENA     359 

resistance  of  the  conductor  coupled  with  the  elec- 
trostatic capacity.  As  a  result  of  measurements  on 
the  phrenic  nerves  of  cats  and  calculations  based  on 
data  of  microscopic  sections  of  nerves,  we  have  been 
able  to  construct  an  artificial  *  nerve'  of  glass,  paper, 
tinfoil  and  graphite,  whose  total  resistance  and  capac- 
ity are  of  the  same  order  of  magnitude  as  those  of  the 
cat's  nerve.  On  applying  the  break  E.  M<  F.  of  an 
induction  coil  to  this  artificial  nerve  and  leading  off 
to  a  string  galvanometer  in  the  usual  manner  we  have 
obtained  typical  diphasic  curves  almost  identical  with 
those  obtained  from  cat  nerves  stimulated  with  the 
same  current.  Of  greater  significance  is  the  fact  that 
we  have  been  able  to  predict  a  change  in  the  form  of 
the  curves  with  change  in  the  nature  of  the  applied 
E.  M.  F.  and  to  predetermine  the  character  of  the 
change.  As  an  example  we  may  mention  that  the 
action  current  of  nerves  stimulated  by  the  make  or 
break  of  a  constant  current  is  of  totally  different  form, 
when  registered  as  a  curve,  from  the  diphasic  curves 
obtained  by  applying  a  momentary  E.  M.  F. 

"It  seems  at  present  altogether  probable  that  the 
phenomena  of  electrotonus,  the  effects  of  lowering 
of  temperature,  anesthetics  and  other  well-known 
phenomena  of  nerve  will  be  found  on  investigation 
to  be  compatible  with  the  theory  that  nervous  phenom- 
ena are  essentially  electrical  in  nature." 

One  of  the  oldest  established  facts  in  physiology  is 
the  electric  variation  in  muscle  and  nerve  action.  The 
question  has  always  been  :  Is  this  electric  phenomenon 
a  result  or  a  cause  of  action?  The  work  of  Crehore 
and  Williams,  however,  apparently  proves  that  it  is 


360     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

neither  cause  nor  effect,  but  identical  with  the 
action. 

Numerous  observations  made  by  means  of  the  Ein- 
thoven  string  galvanometer  show  that  there  is  a  quanti- 
tative variation  in  the  flow  of  electricity  in  muscular 
activity.  There  is  a  rhythmic  variation  with  each 
heart  beat ;  and  there  is  an  intermittent  variation  in 
the  flow  of  electricity  over  the  phrenic  nerves  during 
respiration.  During  inhalation  anesthesia  no  electric 
current  can  be  detected  except  that  identical  with 
respiration  and  circulation.  After  death  no  electric 
current  can  be  detected.  During  muscular  action  the 
flow  of  electricity  along  the  efferent  nerves  is  always 
from  the  brain  toward  the  periphery.  It  is  evident, 
therefore,  that  animals  produce  electricity;  and  that 
in  muscular  action  there  is  a  quantitative  flow  of  elec- 
tric current  along  the  nerve  fibers  supplying  the  in- 
volved muscles. 

Can  electricity  alone  cause  the  various  organs  and 
tissues  to  perform  their  functions?  Answer  to  this 
query  is  found  in  the  accepted  physiologic  fact  that 
adequate  electric  stimulation  of  any  gland  or  muscle 
in  the  body  results  in  the  performance  of  its  normal 
function. 

If  the  body  be  operated  by  means  of  electric  power, 
then  the  electricity  must  be  fabricated  within  the  body, 
which  must  of  necessity  then  contain  mechanisms  for 
the  production  and  storage  of  electricity,  as  well  as  an 
electro-motive  apparatus  and  provision  for  maintaining 
a  difference  in  potential.  In  short,  there  should  bo 
found  in  the  body  a  complete  electro-motive  apparatus, 
supplying  its  elements  and  disposing  of  its  waste  matter. 


ELECTRO-CHEMICAL   PHENOMENA    361 

The  motor  mechanism  is  readily  apparent :  the 
nerve  ceptors,  contact,  distance  and  chemical ;  the 
nerve  fibers  leading  from  these  to  the  brain ; 
the  nerves  leading  from  the  brain  to  all  muscles  of 
the  body;  the  bones  and  joints;  the  muscles  —  these 
make  up  the  motor  mechanism.  With  properly  ad- 
justed electric  stimulation  of  the  various  muscles  by 
means  of  a  faradic  battery,  there  is  no  doubt  that,  for 
instance,  the  motor  mechanism  of  a  dog  recently  killed 
could  be  made  to  run,  to  fight,  to  bark,  indeed,  to 
perform  every  adaptive  movement  of  the  body.  But 
these  movements  would  come  to  an  end  quickly.  The 
fuel  stored  in  the  muscles  would  soon  be  used  up.  The 
waste  products  of  energy  transformation  would  speedily 
choke  the  motor.  An  automatic  mechanism,  such  as 
man,  must  have  an  automatic  arrangement  for  pre- 
venting polarization  of  the  brain  battery,  for  renewing 
the  elements  of  the  battery,  for  bringing  to  the  muscles 
new  stores  of  energy  and  for  taking  from  the  muscles 
the  hampering  waste  matter. 

To  serve  certain  of  these  ends  blood  has  been  evolved. 
Blood  floods  every  cell  of  the  battery  and  every  element 
of  the  motor ;  it  carries  replenishing  stores  of  energy  to 
the  brain  and  the  muscles  and  brings  back  the  waste 
products.  The  mechanisms  which  prevent  polarization 
of  the  battery  by  maintaining  the  difference  in  poten- 
tial, and  change  the  rate  of  electric  discharge  and  the 
rate  of  fabrication  of  electricity  remain  to  be  pointed 
out. 

Granting  that  in  the  normal  state  the  battery  is  not 
polarized,  and  that  the  necessary  difference  in  poten- 
tial exists,  we  may  assume  that  the  battery  in  the 


362     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

human  body  is,  in  some  respects,  like  the  battery  in 
common  use  —  that  is,  its  loss  of  difference  in  poten- 
tial is  due  to  the  action  of  the  battery  itself.  This 
being  the  case,  the  organs  which  eliminate  waste 
matter  and  those  which  contribute  additional  energy 
may  be  justly  regarded  as  the  organs  which  preserve 
the  difference  in  potential.  As  for  the  organs  of  elimi- 
nation, one  would  expect  that  for  such  a  large  energy 
transformer  as  man,  the  most  important  organ  of  the 
eliminating  mechanism  would  be  large  in  proportion 
to  man's  size ;  that  it  would  have  a  protected  location 
in  the  center  of  the  body ;  that  it  would  have  a  wide 
margin  of  safety  to  cover  the  emergencies  of  life. 
Furthermore,  when  this  neutralizing  organ  is  excised, 
the  electro-motor  would  be  quickly  impaired ;  fabri- 
cation of  electricity  would  quickly  be  arrested ;  and 
the  animal,  together  with  the  battery,  would  be 
"dead."  The  organ  which  complies  with  this  descrip- 
tion, and  is  the  chief  of  those  organs  serving  to  maintain 
the  difference  of  potential  between  the  brain  and  the 
muscles,  apparently  is  the  liver.  The  ultimate  and 
final  ejection  of  the  waste  products,  thus  prepared  for 
elimination  by  the  liver,  is  accomplished  by  the  kidneys 
and  the  lungs.  In  addition  to  this  fundamental  work 
of  elimination,  the  liver  also  stores  fuel  —  glycogen. 

Thus  we  see  that  there  is  in  the  body  an  automatic 
non-polarizable  battery,  a  mechanism  for  keeping  the 
muscles  (the  motor)  cleared  of  waste,  nerve  ceptors 
specifically  adapted  to  internal  and  external  environ- 
mental stimuli,  and  nerve  conductors  for  transmit- 
ting stimuli  to  the  adaptive  action  patterns  in  the 
brain. 


ELECTRO-CHEMICAL   PHENOMENA    363 

In  the  brain  is  created  not  only  the  electric  force 
that  drives  the  muscles  to  fabricate  heat  and  motion, 
but  also  the  electric  force  that  activates  certain 
muscles  to  assist  in  the  elimination  of  the  acid  by- 
products of  energy  transformation.  To  this  end,  a 
nerve  runs  to  every  muscle  which  takes  part  in  this 
elimination,  just  as  to  every  muscle  which  takes  part 
in  the  act  of  transforming  energy.  The  number  of 
muscles  actually  engaged  in  the  gross  adaptive  act  are 
comparatively  few;  but  the  muscles  engaged  in  the 
simultaneously  increased  actions  of  circulation,  respira- 
tion and  the  elimination  of  waste  matter  are  many.  If 
a  separate  impulse  were  required  to  go  from  the  brain 
to  every  one  of  the  tiny  muscles  in  the  walls  of  the 
blood  vessels  and  to  every  cell  of  the  glandular  tissues 
cooperating  in  the  adaptive  response,  a  vast  nervous 
system  would  be  needed. 

To  obviate  this  need,  there  has  apparently  been 
evolved  an  organ,  itself  under  the  control  of  the  brain, 
the  secretion  of  which  is  capable  of  mobilizing  all  the 
organs  and  tissues  in  accordance  with  the  part  each  is 
to  play  in  the  response.  The  secretion  of  this  organ 
increases  the  action  of  the  brain,  raises  the  blood  pres- 
sure and  accelerates  the  circulation.  It  increases  the 
efficiency  of  the  eye  by  causing  the  eye  to  protrude  and 
the  pupil  to  dilate.  It  probably  increases  still  more  the 
difference  in  potential  at  the  myoneural  junction,  and 
facilitates  the  neutralization  of  the  acids  resulting  from 
energy  transformation.  The  action  of  this  secretion,  in 
accordance  with  what  would  be  most  useful  in  the 
changeful  environment,  is  quick  —  almost  instantane- 
ous ;  powerful,  but  fleeting.  This  secretion  is  adrenin. 


364     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

The  electric  mechanism  we  have  thus  far  described  is 
wonderfully  adapted  to  the  transformation  of  energy 
and  the  elimination  of  the  waste  matter  resulting  from 
that  activity;  it  responds  quickly  to  eveiy  adequate 
stimulus ;  but  still  is  a  mechanism  which  responds  at  the 
same  rate  for  all  seasons  of  the  year,  for  all  phases  of  life, 
for  all  moments  of  those  phases;  but  such  a  mechanism 
is  not  yet  a  complete  adaptive  mechanism. 

Many  periods  in  the  life  of  the  organism  require 
the  expenditure  of  energy  at  a  much  higher  speed 
than  is  required  at  other  periods.  In  certain  seasons 
of  the  year,  for  example,  an  increased  expenditure  of 
energy  is  needed  for  adjustment  to  food  supply  and 
climate.  In  like  manner,  there  are  periods  of  physi- 
ological adjustment,  such  as  adolescence,  the  period  of 
reproduction,  courting  and  mating,  and  pregnancy; 
periods  requiring  sustained  physical  efficiency,  such  as 
the  long  chase ;  periods  of  intense  metabolic  activity 
for  maintaining  the  chemical  purity  of  the  body,  as 
in  infection  and  auto-intoxication.  At  such  times 
of  "  forced  draft "  on  the  bodily  energies,  there  is  re- 
quired an  organ  that  will  speed  up  the  activity  of  the 
whole  electro-chemical  mechanism  for  the  transforma- 
tion of  energy ;  an  organ  the  secretion  of  which  will  act 
primarily  upon  the  brain,  so  modifying  it  that  the 
threshold  to  all  stimuli  will  be  lowered,  in  order  that 
the  brain  may  drive  the  body  with  increased  force,  and 
the  total  output  of  energy  may  be  constantly  augmented. 
In  distinction  from  the  fleeting  action  of  the  secretion 
of  the  adrenals,  the  action  of  the  secretion  of  such  an 
accelerating  organ  should  be  slower,  steadier  and 
more  persistent  in  its  effect. 


ELECTRO-CHEMICAL   PHENOMENA    365 

The  one  secretion  which  answers  these  requisites 
is  the  secretion  of  the  thyroid  gland.  The  specific 
chemical  constituent  of  the  thyroid  is  known.  It 
is  iodin.  Thyroid  extract  alone,  or  iodin  alone,  causes 
a  steady  rise  in  the  rate  of  energy  transformation,  a 
sustained  maximum  and  a  gradual  fall. 

With  the  brain,  the  muscles,  the  liver,  the  adrenals 
and  the  thyroid,  we  have  the  essential  parts  of  an 
automaton,  which  stores  energy  in  sleep  and  automati- 
cally discharges  energy  during  consciousness ;  maintains 
the  difference  in  potential  between  brain  and  muscles ; 
mobilizes  and  demobilizes  organs  by  means  of  the 
adrenals ;  and  adaptively  varies  the  speed  to  accord 
with  seasonal  and  physiologic  vicissitudes  by  means  of 
the  thyroid. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE    INDIVIDUAL   AS   AN   ADAPTIVE    MECHANISM 

HAVING  now  presented  some  evidence  which  sug- 
gests the  mechanistic  character  of  certain  organic  proc- 
esses in  man,  let  us  roughly  sketch  his  career  as  an 
individual,  upon  the  assumption  that  he  is  an  adap- 
tive mechanism,  dependent  for  life,  as  for  death,  upon 
the  physical  conditions  of  his  internal  and  external 
environment. 

The  life  of  the  individual  begins  with  the  union  of 
the  spermatozoon  and  ovum.  As  far  as  the  initiation 
of  development  is  concerned,  this,  as  Loeb  has  shown, 
is  essentially  a  physico-chemical  phenomenon.  The 
fertilized  ovum  may  be  ejected  from  the  end  of  the 
fallopian  tube;  or,  after  reaching  the  uterus,  it  may 
be  cast  off  in  a  hemorrhage  caused  by  a  submucous 
fibroid ;  in  either  case,  it  is  a  mechanistic  end.  The 
fetus  may  fail  to  thrive  or  develop  in  the  uterus  of  a 
syphilitic  mother  the  chemical  change  in  whose  tissues 
is  produced  by  a  parasite  —  a  spirochete,  the  activity 
of  which  may  be  checked  by  a  chemical  agent  —  mer- 
cury. Again,  the  life  of  a  fetus  in  a  normal  uterus  may 
be  terminated  if  the  mother  be  physically  injured  or  be 
the  subject  of  strong  emotion.  In  either  case,  the  end 
is  mechanistic. 

The  life  of  the  individual  may  be  terminated  at  birth 

366 


SUMMARY  367 

by  any  one  of  many  mechanistic  accidents.  He  may 
be  too  large  to  be  born  naturally,  in  that  event,  if  no 
help  is  at  hand,  he  dies  with  his  mother ;  or  his  body 
may  be  removed  in  pieces,  that  his  mother  may  live. 
In  the  violence  of  birth,  a  blood  vessel  in  the  brain  of 
the  child  may  be  ruptured  and  a  clot  form ;  and,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  continued  pressure  on  the  brain  by  this 
clot,  the  growth  of  the  brain  may  be  hindered.  The 
brain  being  defective,  the  child  —  the  man  —  will  be 
permanently  defective,  and,  as  such,  will  be  forced  to 
leave  the  main  road  of  usefulness  and  happiness  and 
take  the  byways  as  a  paralytic  ;  —  a  mechanistic  fate. 
Then  again,  the  blood  of  a  syphilitic  mother  may  im- 
pair, but  not  kill,  the  offspring,  which  may  be  born  with 
the  disease,  perchance  to  die  early,  perchance  to  share 
the  mechanistic  fate  of  his  fellow  with  the  brain  clot. 

Again  the  mother  of  an  individual  may  live  in  a 
goiterous  region,  and  in  consequence  be  wanting  in 
thyroid  efficiency.  The  individual,  in  that  event,  may 
be  born  a  cretin.  On  the  other  hand,  had  the  mother 
been  given  sufficient  sheep's  thyroid  or  iodin  during 
pregnancy,  she  might  have  borne  a  normal  child  in- 
stead of  a  cretin ;  or  the  child,  if  born  a  cretin,  might 
be  made  to  develop  in  a  normal  way  by  the  adminis- 
tration of  thyroid  extract.  All  that  stands  between 
the  stunted,  stupid,  dwarfed,  defective  cretin  and  the 
normal  child  is  iodin;  between  the  syphilitic  defective 
and  the  normal,  mercury;  between  the  clot-palsied 
child  and  the  normal,  a  surgical  operation. 

If,  by  chance,  the  mother  of  an  unborn  individual  be 
starved  to  emaciation,  the  offspring  struggles  with 
the  mother  against  starvation ;  or  if  the  food  of  the 


368     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

mother  lacks  salt  or  certain  vegetables  and  scurvy 
appears,  the  offspring  suffers  also.  Thus,  the  simplest 
mechanistic  causes  may  terminate  the  life  of  the  fetus 
or  produce  a  weak  or  defective  child. 

The  first  respiratory  movements  of  the  newborn 
babe  are  excited  by  the  very  delicately  adjusted  center 
in  the  medulla  which  responds  to  external  stimuli  or 
to  slight  variations  in  the  alkalinity  (H-ion  concentra- 
tion) of  the  blood,  this  variation  being  produced  by  the 
asphyxia  resulting  from  the  withdrawal  of  the  maternal 
circulation  when  the  placental  structures  are  separated. 
With  the  pressure  of  the  lips  of  the  newborn  child 
against  the  nipple,  the  act  of  sucking  is  excited.  The 
presence  of  milk  in  his  mouth  excites  swallowing ;  and 
the  entire  digestive  mechanism  is  activated  by  the 
swallowed  milk.  Thus  the  child  becomes  a  breathing, 
sucking,  digesting  mechanism.  Light  and  shadow  and 
sound  soon  activate  his  brain.  Each  activation  of  the 
mechanism  for  the  execution  of  a  given  action  through 
contact  or  distance  stimuli  facilitates  the  passage  of 
repetitions  of  these  stimuli,  and  thus  are  the  first  of 
the  vast  numbers  of  action  patterns  formed.  In  the 
plastic  brain  of  the  newborn  babe  new  action  patterns 
are  made  during  each  wakeful  moment.  Contact 
stimuli  become  associated  with  distance  stimuli  and 
associative  memory  is  established. 

That  the  standard  of  chemical  purity  in  the  body 
may  be  maintained,  the  organs  of  the  kinetic  system 
are  stimulated  to  increased  activity  by  the  presence  of 
foreign  proteins.  In  like  manner,  hunger,  thirst  and 
cold  stimulate  the  kinetic  system  to  activities  by  which 
food,  drink  and  shelter  may  be  secured.  Threatened 


SUMMARY  369 

attack  activates  the  kinetic  system  for  fight  or  flight. 
Dust  in  the  nose  causes  the  reaction  of  sneezing;  in 
the  larynx,  of  coughing;  in  the  eye,  of  winking. 
Obstructions  of  the  intestine,  of  the  bile  and  urinary 
passages  cause  expulsion  contractions  (colic).  In- 
juries of  the  outer  parts  of  the  body  cause  pain  and 
muscular  action. 

Implanted  in  the  body  are  unequally  distributed 
contact  ceptors  —  numerous  in  areas  presented  to 
environment ;  sparse  or  absent  in  protected  regions. 
We  find  a  correspondingly  uneven  distribution  of 
defense  mechanisms  against  phylogenetic  infections 
and  against  bleeding;  most  numerous  in  the  regions 
phylogenetically  exposed  to  infection  and  hemorrhage, 
and  sparse  or  absent  from  shielded  areas.  Thus  the 
distribution  of  the  defense  mechanisms  recapitulates 
the  selective  struggle  of  the  organism  against  its  hostile 
internal  and  external  environment. 

The  respiratory  system,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver 
are  the  principal  mechanisms  evolved  for  overcoming 
the  acid  by-products  of  energy  transformation.  The 
respiration  eliminates  carbon  dioxid.  The  liver  breaks 
down  the  acid  byrproducts  thus  preparing  them  for 
elimination,  and  the  adrenals  facilitate  the  needed  oxi- 
dation by  which  this  is  accomplished.  When  acid 
formation  is  rapid  therefore,  as  in  emotion,  in  fighting, 
in  running,  in  fever  and  in  Graves'  disease,  or  when 
acid  elimination  is  defective,  as  in  hemorrhage,  as- 
phyxia, failure  in  circulation,  the  late  stages  of  dia- 
betes, of  cardiovascular  disease  or  of  Bright's  disease, 
and  in  cases  of  liver  insufficiency ;  or  when  acidity  is  in- 
duced by  ether,  chloroform  or  nitrous  oxid,  the  respira- 

2'B 


370     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

tory  rate  is  increased  through  the  specific  stimulation 
of  the  respiratory  center  by  the  increased  H-ion  con- 
centration. The  kinetic  system  is  driven  only  by  the 
higher  centers  of  the  brain.  They  alone  control  the 
adaptive  transformation  of  energy.  Increased  H-ion 
concentration  diminishes  and  even  arrests  the  driving 
power  of  the  brain;  that  is,  it  inhibits  the  higher 
centers  and  stimulates  the  respiratory  and  other  acid- 
neutralizing  mechanisms.  This  antithetic  reaction  of 
the  acid-producing  part  of  the  brain  and  the  acid- 
eliminating  part  of  the  braiii  prevents  death  by  acidosis 
during  muscular  exertion,  emotion  and  fever. 
1  If,  however,  we  give  an  individual  deep  narcotiza- 
tion with  morphia  before  he  is  given  the  adequate 
stimulus  to  emotion,  exertion  or  fever,  we  find  there  is 
little  or  no  transformation  of  energy,  and  his  brain- 
cells,  adrenals  and  liver  remain  histologically  normal. 
Morphia  performs  a  physiologic  decapitation,  com- 
pletely neutralizing  the  effect  of  the  crushing  injury, 
the  overwhelming  danger,  or  the  powerful  infection. 
As  a  corollary,  we  find  that,  if  decreased  alkalinity  be 
present  either  as  a  result  of  energy  transformation,  of 
inhalation  anesthesia  or  of  some  other  cause,  then 
large  doses  of  morphia  hinder  or  prevent  the  return  of 
the  blood  to  its  normal  alkalinity.  Strychnin  and  iodin 
are  antithetic  to  morphia,  the  first  causing  convulsions 
and  the  second  causing  the  kinetic  drive  of  fever,  emo- 
tion or  exertion.  Whatever  causes  excessive  energy 
transformation  diminishes  the  alkalinity  of  the  blood 
and  causes  an  increased  output  of  adrenin,  mobilizes 
thyreoidin  and  glycogen  and  by  increasing  the  electric 
output  of  the  brain  leads  to  physical  exhaustion  and 


SUMMARY  371 

identical  histologic  lesions  in  the  brain,  adrenals  and 
liver. 

If,  instead  of  an  increased  transformation  of  energy 
through  a  short  period,  an  individual  be  subjected  to  a 
prolonged  period  of  increased  transformation  of  energy 
from  the  diverse  causes  already  mentioned,  then  we 
find  changes  of  great  significance  in  the  organs  of  his 
kinetic  system.  The  thyroid  may  become  hyperplas- 
tic,  as  in  the  case  of  prolonged  infection,  pregnancy, 
auto-intoxication  and  sexual  excitation.  In  animals 
and  in  man,  likewise,  we  frequently  find  the  adrenals 
enlarged  in  the  breeding  season,  in  pregnancy,  in  car- 
diovascular disease,  after  or  during  chronic  infection; 
while  injections  of  indol,  skatol,  leucin,  tyrosin  or 
peptone,  intense  fear  and  excessive  muscular  exertion 
cause  an  increased  output  of  adrenin.  In  these  states, 
also,  the  adrenals  contain  less  adrenin,  and  the  liver 
less  glycogen  than  in  the  normal  state. 

During  pregnancy  many  organs  undergo  structural 
changes.  The  mammary  glands  enlarge ;  the  thyroid, 
adrenals,  brain  and  liver  show  increased  activity  in  the 
transformation  of  energy  and  in  the  neutralization  and 
excretion  of  acid  by-products.  In  some  instances,  the 
organs  of  neutralization  and  excretion  prove  inade- 
quate ;  and  in  consequence,  there  result  nephritis, 
high  blood-pressure  and  rapid  respiration,  and  finally 
eclampsia  and  death.  If,  however,  the  fetus  be  re- 
moved, the  symptoms  at  once  disappear ;  a  phenome- 
non as  clearly  mechanistic  as  the  cure  of  auto-intoxi- 
cation by  freeing  the  intestines  of  their  poisonous 
contents ;  as  mechanistic  as  the  amelioration  of  Graves' 
disease  by  the  excision  of  the  hyperplastic  lobe  of  the 


372     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

thyroid ;  as  the  relief  secured  for  an  overworked  man 
by  rest,  or  for  the  harassed  individual  by  substituting 
hope  for  fear.  All  these  are  mechanistic  phenomena 
in  the  life  career  of  man  as  an  individual. 

We  have  pointed  out  incompletely  and  imperfectly 
the  mechanistic  role  played  by  the  organs  and  tissues 
of  the  body  in  transforming  the  energy  needed  for  the 
daily  routine  of  life,  and  in  maintaining  the  chemical 
purity  of  the  body,  especially  when  excessive  metabol- 
ism results  from  intense  emotion,  infection  or  muscular 
exertion.  Let  us  now  briefly  consider  how  the  indi- 
vidual, like  other  mechanisms,  is  modified  by  the  im- 
pairment or  the  deprivation  of  certain  parts. 

Excision  of  Organs 

Brain:  When  the  brain  is  progressively  destroyed 
by  cerebral  softening,  the  conversion  of  energy  in 
muscular  action  and  fever  is  correspondingly  dimin- 
ished. When  a  certain  percentage  of  brain-cells  has 
been  lost,  then  the  brain  can  no  longer  adequately 
drive  the  body  and  a  state  of  equilibrium  is  reached  - 
the  individual  is  dead.  If  the  cerebral  hemispheres 
and  the  cerebellum  are  removed  from  an  animal,  it 
may  live  for  months  or  years,  but  it  cannot  respond  to 
stimuli  affecting  the  distance  or  contact  ceptors.  That 
is,  it  possesses  no  associative  memory.  A  decerebrate 
infant  is  short-lived.  An  individual  with  a  defective 
brain  —  an  idiot  —  may  live  for  many  years,  but  his 
activities  are  limited.  The  function  of  the  brain  may 
be  depressed  or  even  temporarily  suspended  by  mor- 
phia, acidosis,  fever,  emotion,  exertion  or  physical 


SUMMARY  373 

injury.     In  each  case,  the  reactions  of  the  individual 
as  a  whole  are  correspondingly  limited. 

The  Muscles:  If  the  function  of  the  muscles  is  lost 
or  hindered,  the  reactions  of  the  individual  may  be 
as  greatly  affected  as  by  depression  of  the  function  of 
the  brain.  If  the  muscles  are  disconnected  from  the 
brain  by  severing  the  connecting  nerves,  or  if  the  func- 
tion of  the  muscles  is  suspended  by  curare,  the  in- 
dividual will  be  as  helpless  as  if  his  brain  had  been 
removed.  For  a  time,  his  life  may  be  prolonged  by 
artificial  respiration ;  but  he  can  move  no  muscles ; 
he  can  produce  only  a  negligible  amount  of  heat ;  he  is 
powerless,  dumb  and  cold  — little  better  than  dead.  We 
see,  therefore,  that  the  muscles  bear  just  as  mechanistic 
a  relation  to  the  work  of  the  individual  as  a  whole,  as 
the  motor  of  an  automobile  bears  to  the  reactions  of 
the  whole  machine. 

The  Adrenals:  Excision  of  the  adrenals  causes  a 
progressive  decline  in  muscular  power  and  in  the  pro- 
duction of  heat  until  death,  which  inevitably  occurs 
within  a  few  hours.  The  H-ion  concentration  of  the 
blood  increases  progressively  with  the  approach  of 
death. 

The  Thyroid:  The  excision  of  the  thyroid  in  carniv- 
ora  and  in  man  causes  a  rapid  diminution  of  muscular 
power  and  a  diminution  in  the  production  of  heat. 
Sexual  desire  and  procreation  are  depressed  or  lost ;  the 
mind  is  weak ;  the  individual  becomes  large,  flabby  and 
stupid  —  a  repulsive  human  caricature.  Feeding  thy- 
roid extract  to  such  an  individual  transforms  him  into 
a  comparatively  normal  physical  and  mental  being  - 
a  markedly  mechanistic  phenomenon. 


374     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

The  Liver :  Excision  of  the  liver  causes  within  a  few 
hours  a  rapid  decline  in  muscular  power  and  in  heat 
production  until  death.  Before  death  the  H-ion  con- 
centration of  the  blood  increases  rapidly. 

Testicles  and  Ovaries:  Excision  of  the  testicles  and 
ovaries,  before  adolescence,  prevents  the  development 
of  the  secondary  sexual  characteristics  and  prevents 
sex  reactions  and  procreation. 

Pancreas:  Excision  of  the  pancreas  interferes  with 
sugar  metabolism. 

Thymus:  Excision  of  the  thymus  interferes  with 
the  growth  of  the  skeleton. 

Hypophysis:  Excision  of  the  hypophysis  interferes 
with  growth  and  with  sugar  metabolism,  while  exces- 
sive hypophyseal  secretion  causes  excessive  growth 
(gigantism). 

Parathyroids:  Excision  of  these  two  tiny  bodies 
interferes  with  calcium  metabolism  and  may  cause 
death  by  convulsion  (Calcium  tetanus). 

All  these  defects  support  a  mechanistic  conception. 

Want  of  Certain  Chemical  Elements 

The  human  mechanism  may  be  modified  not  only 
by  the  loss  of  some  of  its  component  parts  but  also  by 
depriving  the  body  of  certain  food  constituents.  For 
example,  the  exclusion  of  sodium  chloride  from  the  diet 
soon  causes  death,  and  the  removal  by  milling  of  vita- 
min, a  tiny  element  in  the  husks  of  rice,  has  caused  the 
death  of  multitudes  of  rice-eating  people  and  is  the 
cause  of  the  disease  known  as  beri-beri.  The  adminis- 
tration of  this  minute  constituent  of  rice  prevents  and 
cures  beri-beri  (Craemer). 


SUMMARY  375 

While  this  list  is  by  no  means  complete ,  we  have 
mentioned  some  organs  and  some  chemical  substances 
the  removal  of  which  handicaps  or  destroys  the  individ- 
ual. These  organs  and  chemicals  are  purely  material 
things,  purely  mechanistic  in  their  action.  We  thus 
see  that,  at  will,  by  depressing  or  removing  this  or  that 
organ,  by  administering  this  or  that  external  agent, 
muscular  power  and  the  production  of  heat  are  dimin- 
ished or  lost ;  the  action  of  the  brain  may  be  gradually 
depressed  until  unconsciousness  and  death  is  reached. 
It  would  seem  that  while  a  man-made  machine  is  ap- 
parently, it  is  not  really,  more  dependent  on  chemistry 
and  physics  than  is  that  complex  animal  mechanism, 
man. 

We  have  now  followed,  though  imperfectly,  the 
career  of  the  individual  from  his  beginning  in  fertiliza- 
tion, through  the  unconscious  fetal  days  and  the  hazards 
of  birth  to  his  conscious  adult  life.  We  have  seen  him 
struggling  to  adapt  himself  to  his  environment  in  in- 
fancy and  in  childhood  and  during  adolescence.  We 
have  seen  his  kinetic  system  driven  by  injury,  by 
emotion,  by  infection ;  and  have  seen  many  diseases 
result  from  his  struggle  with  his  internal  and  his  ex- 
ternal environment.  We  have  seen  him  complete  the 
cycle  of  life  through  procreation.  We  have  seen  that 
his  death  results  from  a  vital  break  in  his  mechanism, 
and  that  his  ashes  are  returned  to  the  elements  whence 
they  came.  From  conception  and  birth  to  death,  we 
have  seen  that  virtually  every  phenomenon  of  life  is 
mechanistic.  We  have  studied  the  imperfect  record 
of  the  ascent  of  man's  species  from  the  time  when, 
having  been  driven  by  powerful  enemies  to  the  trees, 


376     MAN  — AN  ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

he  evolved  his  strategy  and  acquired  hands,  which 
later  enabled  him  to  fashion  weapons ;  to  the  period 
in  which  he  returned  cautiously  to  the  hostile  ground 
of  his  ancient  enemies  and  with  better  strategy  resumed 
the  battle  by  using  the  forces  of  nature ;  to  the  period 
in  which  he  discovered  fire,  fashioned  simple  tools  and 
weapons,  made  dugouts,  tamed  animals  and  planted 
seeds,  thus  making  nature  herself  aid  him  to  obtain 
food  and  shelter  and  protection  against  his  foes.  We 
have  seen  increased  power  accrue  to  man  coincidently 
with  the  development  of  spoken  and  written  language 
from  mere  symbols  of  communication.  We  have  seen 
that  as  man  became  more  and  more  completely  adapted 
to  environment,  his  numbers  increased,  until,  in  his 
desire  to  possess  the  earth,  he  found  his  most  formi- 
dable enemies  to  be  his  fellow  men ;  and  hence,  with  the 
blood  of  man  shed  by  man  the  earth  has  been  deluged. 
We  see  that  this  human  animal  is  exceedingly  prone 
to  kill,  because  his  evolution  has  depended  upon  his 
ability  to  conquer  brute  animals  and  his  fellow  man. 
We  see  that  his  two  most  complete  adaptations  are 
those  of  killing  and  procreating  —  the  inevitable  sequel 
of  the  primal  needs  for  self-preservation  and  for  the 
preservation  of  his  species. 

The  most  powerful  activator  of  the  kinetic  system 
of  man  to-day  is  his  fellow  man.  This  is  the  enemy  he 
most  fears.  In  the  midst  of  plenty  he  strives  for 
more.  He  is  at  war  with  his  fellows  in  business,  in 
education,  in  the  arts,  in  the  professions,  in  philan- 
thropy and  in  winning  mates.  There  is  no  game  nor 
sport  that  is  not  a  battle.  Even  the  toddling  child, 
when  pursued,  turns  at  bay  when  captured ;  an  ob- 


SUMMARY  377 

vious  recall  of  the  bloody  abyss  of  phylogeny,  since  all 
animals  turn  for  the  final  death  struggle.  In  all  his 
waking  moments,  and  even  in  his  dreams,  man  exerts 
himself  against  his  fellows.  He  fears ;  he  hopes ;  he 
triumphs ;  he  is  vanquished ;  he  is  jealous  and  sus- 
picious. Yet  with  all  his  fears  and  struggles,  he  is 
forever  bound  to  his  fellows  by  the  chains  of  necessity, 
for  he  cannot  succeed  alone.  Man  is,  of  necessity,  a 
gregarious  animal.  He  hates  and  fears,  while  at  the 
same  time,  he  is  grateful  and  dependent.  The  rivalry 
and  jealousy  of  his  life  turn  to  grief  at  the  death  of  his 
rival.  And  in  these  emotions  and  strivings  are  laid 
the  foundations  of  many  diseases.  These  antithetic 
relations  between  individuals  are  exhibited  on  a  vast 
scale  by  nations  in  mutual  dependence,  mutual  help, 
mutual  jealousy,  mutual  hate,  mutual  efforts  to  kill. 
The  effect  of  fear,  grief,  worry  and  jealousy  on  the 
physical  body  is  seen  in  the  changes  in  the  cells  of  the 
brain,  the  adrenals  and  the  liver,  and  in  the  numerous 
resultant  diseases  and  disabilities.  Against  man's  in- 
humanity to  man,  religions  and  philosophies  have  been 
evolved,  each  of  which  aids  in  proportion  to  its  power 
to  substitute  altruism  for  selfishness,  to  substitute  faith 
for  fear.  Thus  in  understanding  the  physical  basis  of 
the  action  of  faith  and  hope,  as  opposed  to  fear,  despair, 
anger  and  grief,  we  have  at  our  command  a  concrete 
force  which  can  be  efficiently  used  to  protect  the 
individual.  As  the  knowledge  of  disgrace  and  punish- 
ment prevents  dishonesty ;  as  the  knowledge  of  con- 
tagion prevents  exposure  to  contagion,  so  the  mere 
knowledge  —  the  conviction  —  that  excessive  anger, 
work,  jealousy,  envy,  worry  or  grief  cause  physical 


378     MAN --AN   ADAPTIVE   MECHANISM 

damage  as  serious  as  that  produced  by  infections  or 
crushing  blows  will  constitute  a  powerful  protection 
to  man.  The  knowledge  that  these  activations  not 
only  decrease  the  power  of  the  individual  to  do  his  work, 
but  ultimately  cause  numerous  diseases  as  well,  will 
result  automatically  in  arousing  the  instinct  of  self- 
preservation,  which  will  surround  the  individual  with 
a  protecting  circle,  through  which  anger,  jealousy, 
grief,  and  worry  cannot  penetrate,  just  as  the  zone  of 
local  anesthesia  in  the  anociated  surgical  operation  is 
an  impenetrable  barrier  between  the  brain  and  the 
knife,  making  the  surgical  operation  shockless. 

In  the  texture  and  form  of  his  bones  and  joints ;  in 
the  structure  and  distribution  of  his  muscles ;  in  the 
covering  skin  and  the  padding  fat ;  in  the  nature  and 
distribution  of  his  nails  and  hair ;  in  the  structure  and 
equipment  of  the  mouth,  the  stomach  and  the  intes- 
tines, of  the  kidneys,  ureter  and  bladder  and  of  the 
organs  for  procreation  and  respiration ;  in  the  composi- 
tion and  circulation  of  the  blood ;  in  the  distribution 
of  pain  ceptors,  and  of  the  defense  mechanisms  against 
dust,  debris  and  insects,  against  cold  and  heat,  and 
against  infection  and  bleeding ;  in  the  mechanisms  for 
appreciating  sound  and  light,  color  and  form ;  in  the 
mechanisms  for  taste  and  for  smell,  for  maintaining  an 
even  body  temperature,  for  producing  muscular  action 
and  for  expressing  the  emotions;  in  the  nature  and 
incidence  of  laughter  and  weeping;  in  the  chemical 
defense  against  bacterial  invasion  and  against  the 
poisons  of  pregnancy  and  auto-intoxication ;  in  the 
mechanisms  of  conception,  of  pregnancy  and  of  birth ; 
in  the  fabrication  of  thought ;  in  the  mechanisms  of 


SUMMARY  379 

communication  by  natural/  spoken  and  written  lan- 
guage ;  in  health  and  in  disease  —  in  the  complete  life 
cycle  of  the  individual  from  conception  to  death  we 
see  clearly  here  and  dimly  there  the  mechanisms  by 
means  of  which  a  sensitive  being  immersed  in  a 
hostile  environment  effects  survival,  —  we  see  man  - 
an  adaptive  mechanism. 


INDEX 


Abdomen,  a  shock-producing  area  of 

body,  88. 
Acid  sodium  phosphate,  effect  of,  on 

kinetic  system,  290. 
Acidity  and  respiration,  116. 

effect  of  exercise  of  various  organs 

on,  347. 

of    blood.     See   H-ion    Concentra- 
tion. 

relation  of,  to  anesthesia,  344. 
Acidosis,  etiology  of,  7. 

lesions  due  to,  repaired  by  sleep, 

342. 

neutralization  of,  9. 
relation  of,  to  normal  and  patho- 
logic phenomena,  346. 
symptoms  of,  351. 
ultimate  cause  of  death,  355. 
See  also  H-ion  Concentration. 
Acids,  effect  of  intravenous  injection 

of,  341. 

on  kinetic  system,  290. 
Action  patterns,  application  of  theory 

of,  303. 

definition  of,  120. 
establishment  of,  58. 
of  man  and  animals  compared,  65. 
theoretic  structure  of,  298. 
Adaptation,  law  of,  20. 

man's,  by  nervous  reaction,  38. 
mechanism  of,  22. 
Adaptive  reaction,  typical,  51. 
Adrenals,  control  of,  by  morphin,  205, 

289. 

effect  of  pregnancy  on,  277. 
on  energy  conversion,  190. 
function  of,  9. 

functional  changes  of,  in  relation  to 
energy  transformation,  180. 
histologic  changes  in,  6,  164. 
mobilizing  function  of,  363. 
relation  of,  to  brain,  liver,  thyroid, 

and  muscles,  198. 
distance  ceptor  stimulation,  144. 
result  of  excision  of,  200,  373. 


Adrenin,    and   iodin,    comparison   of 

effects  of,  148. 

effect  and  function  of,  144,  198. 
of,  on  brain-cells,  203. 
coagulation,  115. 
kinetic  system,  293. 
output,  effect  of  opium  on,  286. 
increased    by    foreign    proteins, 

fear  and  rage, 

physiologic  response  to,  145. 
Alkalies,  effect  of,  on  kinetic  system, 

290. 

Alonzo  Clark.     See  Clark,  Alonzo. 
Amphioxus,  spinal  tube  of,  49. 
Anesthesia,  effect  of,  on  electric  fish, 

185. 
inhalation,    effect    of,    on    kinetic 

system,  293. 

failure  of,  to  prevent  shock,  6. 
relation  of,  to  acidity,  341. 
Anociassociation.     See  Anociation. 
Anociation,  as  a  conserver  of  life,  224. 
definition  of,  242. 

effect   of,  on  postoperative   pneu- 
monia, 259. 

method  of  securing,  242. 
origin  of  principle  of,  5. 
relation     of,    to     conservation     of 

energy,  11. 
results  of,  252. 
use  of  opium  in,  286. 

to    prevent   postoperative    pain, 

326. 

Anti-thrombin,  inhibitory  action  of, 
on  intravascular  coagula- 
tion, 112. 

Arterio-sclerosis,  etiology  of,  236. 
Aschoffe,  183. 
Ascidians,  anatomy  of,  71. 

excision  of  nervous  system  of,  48. 
nervous  system  of,  49. 
Aseptic    wound    fever,    etiology    and 

prevention  of,  258. 
Auto-intoxication,  defense  against,  by 
chemical  ceptors,  97. 


381 


382 


INDEX 


Bacteria,  beneficial  to  man,  100. 

gaso-genetic,  100. 
Balance,  law  of,  24. 
Beebe,  183. 
Benedict,  265. 
Beri-beri,  etiology  of,  374. 
Blood  coagulation,  as  a  chemical  re- 
action, 111. 

distribution     of     protective     me- 
chanisms of,  115. 
mechanism  of,  112. 
Blood-pressure,  effect  of  injuries  on, 

84. 

low,  result  of,  113. 
Bose,  55,  357. 
Brachiopod,  70,  71. 
Brain,  as  a  creative  agent  of  electric 

force,  363. 

cells,  affinity  of,  for  adrenin,  200. 
effect  of  excision  of  adrenals  on, 

200. 

development  of,  49. 
effect  of  opium  on,  287. 

pregnancy  on,  275. 
function  of,  9,  116,  190,  197. 
histologic  changes  in,  6,  168. 
relation     of,    to     adrenals,     liver, 

thyroid,  and  muscles,  198. 
result  of  excision  of,  372. 
Bright's  disease,  etiology  of,  10,  240. 

Cannon,  115,  144,  147,  287. 
Cardiovascular   disease,    etiology   of, 

10,  213,  234. 
treatment  of,  234,  235. 
Carrel,  273. 

Ceptor  mechanisms,  location  of,  73. 
Ceptors,  absence  of,  73. 

chemical,      defensive      action     of, 

against  infection,  97. 
definition  of,  69. 
distribution  of,  71,  108. 
physiological  action  of,  71. 
specific  adaptation  of,  105. 
classification  of,  68. 
contact,  function  of,  106. 
distance,  distribution  of,  118. 
result  of  stimulation  of,  69. 
effector,  function  of,  303. 

influence  of  impulses  on,  303. 
effects  of  stimulation  of,  60. 
Changes  in  iodin  content,  140. 
Chemical  differences  of  individuals,  274. 
purity,  effect  of  kinetic  system  on, 

275. 
maintenance  of,  265. 


Chemicals,  effect  of  lack  of,  374. 
Circulatory  system,  function  of,  157. 
Clark,   Alonzo,    treatment,    12,    255, 

289. 

Clotting.     See  Coagulation. 
Coagulation,    effect    of    adrenin    on, 
115. 

intravascular,  112. 

mechanism  of ,  112. 

protective  function  of,  112. 
Cold  and  heat,  adaptation  to,  80. 
Colon  bacillus,  101. 
Color  obliteration,  of  animals,  28. 
Compromise,  law  of,  20. 
Consciousness,  definition  of,  311,  316. 
Conservation   of  energy,    applied   in 
anociation,  11. 

effect  of,  13. 

law  of,  44. 

relation  of,  to  adaptation,  12. 
Contact  ceptors.      See  Ceptors,  con- 
tact. 

Conversion  of  energy,  for  reproduc- 
tion, 263. 

Cortex  and  medulla,  antithetic  rela- 
tion between,  344. 
Craemer,  374. 

Crehore  and  Williams,  121,  359. 
Crozier,  340. 
Curare,  effect  of,  187. 

Darwin,  1,  4,  21,  38,  51,  99,  122,  136, 

328. 
Death,  acidosis  the  ultimate  cause  of, 

355. 
Degree  of  shock,  determined  by  type 

of  trauma,  84. 
Diabetes,  cause  of,  10,  218. 
effect  of  emotion  on,  147. 
suggested  treatment  of,  215. 
Digestive  system,  function  of,  157. 
tract,  lack  of  protective  mechanism 

in,  79. 

Disease,  definition  of,  1. 
origin  and  control  of,  3. 
relation  of,  to  life,  4. 
result  of  disturbed  symbiosis,  101. 
Diseases    of    modern    environment, 

11. 

Distance  ceptors.      See  Ceptors,  dis- 
tance. 

Disturbed  symbiosis  and  disease,  101. 
Drosera,  37. 
Drugs,  classified  according  to  effect  on 

kinetic  system,  285. 
DuBois,  265,  271,  351. 


INDEX 


383 


Eclampsia,  etiology  of,  279. 
Effector   ceptors.      See   Ceptors,   ef- 
fector. 

Ehrlich,  102,  105,  107. 
Einthoven  string  galvanometer,  358, 

360. 
Electric  fish,  effect  of  anesthesia  on, 

185. 
stimulation  of  glands  or  muscles, 

effect  of,  360. 

Electro-chemical  mechanism,  356. 
Elliott,  144. 

Emotion,  a  form  of  muscular  activa- 
tion, 122,  138. 
adequate  stimulus  of,  216. 
effect  of,  on  temperature,  188. 
physiological  characteristics  of,  136. 
purpose  of,  217. 
without  action,  result  of,  153. 
Emotional    activation,    a    cause    of 

acidosis,  12. 

Emotions,  gross  phenomena  of,  152. 
Endarteritis  obliterans.     See  Throm- 

bo-angiitis  obliterans. 
Energy,  adaptive  variation  in  amount 

of,  159. 
transformation  of,  for  reproduction, 

263. 

periods  of  greatest,  161. 
relation  of,  to   certain   diseases, 

219. 

variation  in  rate  of,  160. 
Equilibrium,  law  of,  20. 
Ether,  disadvantages  of,  249. 

effect   of,  on    brain,  adrenals   and 

liver,  251,  293. 
Ewing,  279. 

Exanthemata,  painless,  chemical  re- 
sponse to,  319. 
Excision  of  central  nervous  system, 

effect  of,  48. 
various  organs  of  body,  effect  of, 

206. 
Exciting   stimulus,   response   specific 

to,  121. 
Exophthalmic    goitre.     See    Graves' 

disease. 
Eye,  protective  mechanism  of,  78. 

Fainting,  biologic  origin  of,  113. 
Faith  cures,  mechanism  of,  221. 
Fear  and  rage,  likeness  of,  to  muscular 

activity,  125. 

terror,  Darwin's  description 

of,  122. 
preoperative,  elimination  of,  6,  243. 


Fear,  result  of,  on  sugar  output  of 
liver,  147. 

Spencer  on,  125. 

versus  faith,  220. 

Fertilization,  adaptive  reaction  in,  46. 
Fever,  as  a  protective  adaptive  re- 
sponse, 163. 

cause  of,  231. 

symptoms  of,  349. 
Fighting,  as  a  reflex  process,  77. 
Final  common  path,  principle  of,  60. 

the  path  of  action,  60. 
Fisher,  346. 

Fly-trap,  Venus'.   See  Venus'  Fly- trap. 
Form  and  color,  obliteration  of,  28. 

Galton,  43. 

Gaso-genetic  bacteria  of  man,  100. 
Genital  system,  function  of,  157. 
Goitre,    exophthalmic.     See   Graves' 

disease. 

Graves'  disease,  physiologic  changes 
in,  183,  193. 

etiology  of,  10,  141,  213,  225,  234. 

H-ion  factor  in,  350. 

likeness  of,  to  tuberculosis,  232. 

symptoms  of,  141,  232,  349. 

treatment  of,  12,  234,  235. 

use  of  opium  in,  289. 

Haeckel,  50. 
Harrison,  340. 

Head  and  neck,   defensive  mechan- 
isms of,  86. 

Headache,  etiology  of,  320. 
Heat,  adaptive  reaction  of,  163. 
production,  purpose  and  mechan- 
ism of,  162. 
Hektoen,  273. 
Heliotropism  in  plants  and  animals, 

47. 
Hemorrhage,  biologic  origin  of,  113. 

treatment  of,  113. 
Henderson,  346. 
Heraclitus,  23. 
H-ion  concentration  of  blood,  control 

of,  233,  340,  351. 
effect  of  emotion  on,  138. 
morphine  on,  287. 
on  respiratory  center,  233. 
in  insomnia,  165. 
pregnancy,  280. 
measurements  of,  340. 
result  of  increase  of,  117. 
See  also  Acidity  and  Acidosis. 
tests,  results  of,  180. 


384 


INDEX 


Horsley,  Sir  Victor,  115. 

Ho  well,  115. 

Hydrochloric  acid,  effect  of,  on  kinetic 

system,  290. 

Hyperactivity  of  brain,  effect  of,  197. 
' '  Hy  perthy  roidism , ' '     etiology     and 

prevention  of,  258. 
Hypophysis,  result  of  excision  of,  374. 

Infection,  an  illustration  of  adapta- 
tion to  environment,  97. 
cause  of  death  from,  289. 
effect  of,  on  exhaustion,  8. 
mechanism  of  protection  against, 

254. 

painful   pyogenic,    compared   with 

painless  exanthemata,   319. 

Inhalation   anesthesia,    effect   of,  on 

kinetic  system,  293. 
Insomnia,  effect  of,  on  exhaustion,  8. 

histologic  changes  in,  165. 
Integration  of   animal,   achievement 

of,  119. 

Internal  hemorrhage,  remedy  for,  113. 
lodin,  changes  in  content,  140. 
effect  of,  on  kinetic  system,  293. 
influence  of,  in  Graves'  disease,  143. 
metabolism  and  storage  of,  140. 
Iodized  protein,  effect  of,  143. 
relation  of  thyroid  to,  143. 

Kinetic    activation,    modification    or 

prevention  of,  214. 
result  of  excessive  glucose,  etc., 

on,  265. 
chain,    interdependence   of   organs 

in,  11. 

diseases,  definition  of,  215. 
efficiency,   effect  of  glucose,   etc., 

on,  265. 

system,  effect  on,  of  acids,  290. 
adrenalin,  293. 
alkalies,  290. 
ether,  293. 
iodin,  293. 

inhalation  anesthesia,  293. 
nitrous  oxid,  293. 
opium,  286. 
strychnin,  285. 
chief  activator  of,  376. 
components  of,  9,  158. 
conservation  of  energy  in,  12. 
decrease    of    activity    of,     189, 

193. 

effect  of  seasons  on  organs  of, 
161. 


Kinetic  system  (continued). 
function  of,  157. 
maintenance  of  chemical  purity 

by,  266,  275. 
theory  of  shock,  definition  of,  6. 

Lability,  result  of,  on  evolution,  23. 

survival  by,  31. 

Labor,  an  adaptive  reaction,  283. 
Larval  ascidians,  nervous  system  of, 

49. 

Larynx,  protective  mechanism  of,  79. 
Laughter,  etiology  of,  327. 
in  Graves'  disease,  338. 
Law  of  phylogenetic  association,  93. 

photochemical  action,  47. 
Lexor,  274. 
Lillie,  357. 

Liver,  as  a  neutralizing  organ,  362. 
control  of,  by  morphin,  205. 
effect  of  adrenin  on,  144. 
function  of,  in  energy  conversion, 

9,  190. 

histologic  changes  in,  6,  164. 
relation     of,    to     distance     ceptor 

stimulation,  148. 
adrenals,     brain,     thyroid     and 

muscles,  198. 

energy  transformation,  204. 
result  of  excision  of,  374. 

rage  and  fear  on  sugar  output  of, 

147. 

Livingston,  324. 
Loeb,  48,  219,  366. 
Lungs,  protective  mechanism  of,  78. 
Lusk,  265,  266,  280. 
Lymphatic  hyperplasia,  indicative  of 

overwork,  233. 

Lymphocytosis,  common  to  Graves' 
disease  and  tuberculosis, 
233. 

Man,  a  transformer  of  energy,  44. 

rise  of,  32. 

Man's  response  to  environment,  120. 
Marine,  183. 

Mechanisms  of  adaptation,  22. 
sleep  and  anesthesia,  313. 
protective,  77. 

Medulla  and  cortex,  antithetic  rela- 
tion between,  344. 
mechanism  of,  to  maintain  alkales- 
cence, 117. 
Mental     and     physical     exhaustion, 

similarity  of,  129. 
Menten,  340. 


INDEX 


385 


Metabolism,  an  example  of  chemical 

adaptation,  96. 
effect  of  excessive  glucose,  etc.,  on, 

265. 

Metchnikoff,  103. 
Michaelis,  279,  346. 
Modern   environment,    diseases   pro- 
duced by,  11. 
Morphin,  control  of  adrenals  and  liver 

by,  205. 

effect  of,  9,  186,  345,  370. 
See  also  Opium. 

Multicellular    animals,    adaptive    re- 
actions of,  46. 

Muscles,  function  of,  in  energy  con- 
version, 10,  184,  191. 
relation  of,  to  adrenals,  liver,  brain, 

and  thyroid,  198. 
result  of  excision  of,  373. 
Muscular  exertion,  purpose  of,  121. 

Nephritis,  etiology  of,  218. 

Nernst's  law,  357. 

Nervous   reactions,    man's   mode   of 

adaptation,  38. 
of  protoplasm,  46. 
system,  effect  of  excision  of,  48. 
first  rudiment  of,  49. 
man's  mechanism  of  adaptation, 

45. 

specific  qualities  of,  51. 
Nervousness,  postoperative  or  post- 
traumatic,  257. 
Neurasthenia,  etiology  of,  10. 
Nitrous    oxid,    advantages    of,    over 

ether,  249. 

dangers  in  use  of,  251. 
effect  of  administration  of,  9,  293. 
histologic  changes  due  to,  172. 
Novocaine,  use  of,  251. 

Obliteration  of  color  and  form,  28. 
Omen  turn,  protective  function  of,  111. 
Opium,  action  of,  286. 

effect  of,  on  adrenals,  205. 

kinetic  system,  286. 
use  of,  in  exophthalmic  goitre,  289. 
shock,  289. 

technic  of  anociation,  288. 
value  of,  11. 
See  also  Morphin. 
Osterhaut,  141,  357. 
Ovaries,  result  of  excision  of,  374. 

Pain  areas,  distribution  of,  82,  91. 
biologic  utility  of,  318. 
2c 


Pain,  freedom  from,  323. 
mechanism  of,  318. 
postoperative,  prevented  by  anocia- 
tion, 326. 
site  of,  322. 

specific  response  of,  81. 
Painful  scar,  etiology  of,  256. 
Pancreas,  result  of  excision  of,  374. 
Parathyroids,    result   of   excision   of, 

374. 

Paths,    receptor,    conductor   and   ef- 
fector, 120. 

Patterns  of  action.     See  Action  pat- 
terns. 

Pawlow,  301,  307. 
Peritoneum,  protective  mechanism  of, 

109,  110. 

Peritonitis,  kinetic  theory  of,  253. 
protective  nature  of,  321. 
use  of  opium  in,  12. 
Phagocytes,  action  of,  102. 
Phagocytic  defense  against  infection, 

319. 

Phagocytosis,  definition  of,  103. 
response  to  local  infection,  97. 
Philogenetic  association,  law  of,  6. 
memory,  7. 
origin  of  emotions,  125. 

specific  reflexes,  77. 
tendencies,  218. 
Philogeny,  definition  of,  63. 

interpretation  of,  93. 
Photochemical  action,  law  of,  47. 
Phototropism  in  animals,  47. 
Physical     and     mental     exhaustion, 

similarity  of,  129. 
Physiologic    expression    of    emotion, 

217. 
Physiological  phenomena  of  emotion, 

136. 
Plasticity,  basis  of  man's  adaptation, 

31. 
Pneumonia,    postoperative,    etiology 

of,  259. 
Postoperative  gas  pain,  kinetic  theory 

of,  253. 
morbidity   records,    results   shown 

in,  251. 

or  posttraumatic  nervousness,  257. 
Pregnancy,    effect    of,    on    adrenals, 
277. 

brain,  275. 
liver,  279. 
muscles,  279. 
thyroid,  278. 
vomiting,  etiology  of,  282. 


386 


INDEX 


Protoplasm,    power   of   adaptive   re- 
sponse in,  46. 
Protozoa,  adaptive  reactions  of,  46. 

Quinin  and  urea  hydrochlorid,  use  of, 
255. 

Rage  and  fear,  effect  of,  on  liver  and 

adrenin,  144. 
effect  of,  on  coagulation,  115. 

Receptor  mechanisms  in  brain,  304. 
organs,  67. 

Reflex  arcs,  definition  of,  57. 

Reproduction,  energy  conversion  for, 
263. 

Respiration,  rapid,  cause  of,  in  shock, 
7. 

Respiratory  rate,   indicative  of  me- 
chanical injury,  83. 
system,  function  of,  157. 

Response   to   trauma,   determination 
of,  91. 

Rest,  therapeutic  value  of,  12. 

Restlessness  in  shock,  cause  of,  7. 

Robertson,  357. 

Rogers,  340. 

Romanes,  99. 

Rubner,  265. 

Sedatives,  use  of,  242,  246. 
Self-defensive    mechanisms    in    head 

and  neck,  86. 

Sherrington,  60,  70,  77,  119. 
Shock,  chronic,  213. 

continued,  result  of,  213. 

etiology  of,  6,  8. 

kinds  of,  212. 

kinetic  theory  of,  6. 

prevention  of,  5,  288. 
Shock-producing  areas  of  body,  88. 
Skin,  sensitive  areas  of,  84. 
Sleep,  definition  of,  311. 

effect  of,  9. 

Smell,  protective  function  of,  79. 
Sodium  bicarbonate,  effect  of,  on  in- 
halation anesthesia,  345. 
kinetic  system,  291. 

chloride,  result  of  exclusion  of,  from 

diet,  374. 

Specialized  pathway  for  stimuli,  45. 
Specific  response  of  pain,  81. 
Spencer,  Herbert,  4,  125. 
Spermatozoa,  action  of,  46. 
Splanchnic  nerves,  effect  of  division 
of,  147. 


Stability,  effect  of,  on  evolution,  23. 
Starling,  187. 

Stimulants,  effect  of,  in  exhaustion,  8. 
Stimuli,  order  of  succession  of,  61. 

specialized  pathway  for,  45. 
Stimulus,  adequate,  function  of,  56. 

first  stage  of  reaction  to,  55. 
Strychnin,  effect  of,  on  kinetic  system, 

285. 

Summation,  definition  of,  62. 
Sweating  in  shock,  cause  of,  7. 
Symbiosis  and  parasitism,  98. 

Taste,  protective  function  of,  79. 
Testicles,  result  of  excision  of,  374. 
Thirst  in  shock,  cause  of,  7. 
Threshold,  definition  of,  61. 
Thrombo-angiitis  obliterans,  etiology 

of,  237. 
Thromboplastin,  distribution  of,  115. 

function  of,  in  coagulation,  115. 

neutralizing  power  of,  112. 
Thymus,  result  of  excision  of,  374. 
Thyroid  deficiency,  result  of,  189,  192. 

excess,  result  of,  189,  193. 

function  of,  10,  183,  197. 

pacemaker  of  kinetic  system,  195, 
232. 

reaction     of,    to     distance     ceptor 
stimulation,  140. 

relation     of,    to     brain,     adrenals, 
thyroid  and  muscles,  198. 

result  of  excision  of,  373. 

seasonal  effect  on,  162. 
Tickle,  reflex  origin  of,  74. 
Tickling,  prolonged,  effect  of,  75. 

relation  to  laughter,  77. 
Ticklish  areas,  75. 
Toxins,  cause  of  exhaustion,  8. 

of  pregnancy,  defense  against,  97. 
Transformer  of  energy,  man  a,  44. 

Unicellular    organism,    response    of, 

45. 
Urea  and  quinin  hydrochlorid,  use  of, 

255. 
Urinary  system,  function  of,  157. 

Vaughn,  163. 

Venus'  Fly-trap,  action  pattern  of,  58. 

adaptive  reaction  of,  71. 

compared  with  man,  301. 

mechanism  of,  51. 

nervous  system  of,  300. 
Vitamin,  result  of  removal  from  rice, 
374. 


INDEX 


387 


Vomiting,  mechanism  of,  80. 
in  Graves'  disease,  233. 
of  pregnancy,  etiology  of,  282. 

Weeping,  etiology  of,  335. 
in  Graves'  disease,  338. 


Williams,  341. 

Williams  and  Crehore,  121,  359. 
"Work"   changes,  effect  of  emotion 
on,  140,  184. 

X-ray,  lack  of  response  to,  73. 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America. 


RETURN  TO  the  circulation  desk  of  any 
University  of  California  Library 

or  to  the 

NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
Bldg.  400,  Richmond  Field  Station 
University  of  California 
Richmond,  CA  94804-4698 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

•  2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 
(510)642-6753 

•  1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing 
books  to  NRLF 

•  Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4 
days  prior  to  due  date. 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


SEP  2  4  2000 


MAR  16  2002 


12,000(11/95) 


Crile.  G.W. 


Man  •  an 


mechanism , 


96 


adaptive 


C7 


Gr/Vs  Q, 


LIBRARY,  COLLEGE  ^f-  AGRICULTURE,  DAVIS 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


3   1175  01046   5667 


lifF 


i 

KVflDfl 


Imlmmi 


• 


